Tag: GIS

Report on cities and drones released by National League of Cities

Report highlights crucial information cities need when regulating drones

The National League of Cities (NLC) has released Cities and Drones, a new report that provides cities with insight on the recently released Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) rules relating to drone operation.

The report also provides suggestions for how local governments can craft their own drone ordinances to encourage innovation while also protecting their cities.

In 2015, world sales of drones hit 4.3 million. Cities are using drones in a variety of ways, including for law enforcement and firefighting, as rural ambulances, and for inspections, environmental monitoring and disaster management. Commercial uses include precision farming, aerial photography, and — in the near future — package delivery.

“This report serves as a primer on drones for local officials,” said National League of Cities (NLC) CEO and Executive Director Clarence E. Anthony. “Whether they are revolutionizing search and rescue capabilities or helping realtors show off their homes, drones are lowering the cost and increasing the reach of airborne services. As our skies are becoming more crowded, cities must be able to decide how and when they want to see drones used in their communities.”

According to NLC, city officials must tackle three spheres of drone activity: private use, public use and commercial use. “To protect communities, promote innovation and avoid preemptive regulatory action, cities should focus on the following issues when enacting a drone related ordinance: using land use and zoning powers to designate when and where drones may take off, land and operate, as well as any operational limitations or criteria; creating an ordinance that punishes operators for operating an unmanned aircraft in a manner that recklessly endangers persons or property while considering appropriate enforcement infrastructure.”

The National League of Cities (NLC) is dedicated to helping city leaders build better communities. NLC is a resource and advocate for 19,000 cities, towns and villages, representing more than 218 million Americans. www.nlc.org

August 22, 2016
Geneq introduces rugged SXPad 800H GPS data collector

Geneq Inc. has released the SXPad 800H, which the company describes as a feature-packed, rugged handheld GPS data collector at an affordable price.

The SXPad 800H is specifically designed for mobile GIS users in applications ranging from water, electric and gas utilities, transportation, mining, agriculture and forestry.

The high-performance 800-MHz device is designed to give users all the power needed to work with maps and large data sets in the field. It is designed for rugged outdoor use, the company says, with a waterproof seal (IP65) and ability to survive a 5-foot (1.5-meter) drop to concrete. Its 3.7-inch color touchscreen (full VGA) is sharp and is sunlight readable.

Standard features include an extra-long battery life of more than 12 hours on a charge, slots for MicroSD cards and SIM cards, and the Windows Mobile 6.5 operating system.

The SXPad 800H offers features typically seen in more costly mobile devices, the company says, including GSM/GPRS cellular modem, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, a 5-megapixel camera, and an internal GPS receiver with external GPS antenna port.

The SXPad 800H is optimized for GPS/GIS field data collection using its 1 to 3 meter accuracy internal GPS receiver or one of Geneq’s high-performance SXBlue GPS receivers for sub-meter and centimeter-level accuracy.

August 19, 2016
Cityworks enhanced with new functions in 15.1 release

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.”

August 4, 2016
DigitalGlobe backs up Rio Olympics security
DigitalGlobe is supporting security at the Summer Olympics with its Rio de Janeiro Summer Olympic Security Package. The package provides international governments and security agencies with professional-grade imagery and information to enhance the safety of athletes, dignitaries and spectators.

The package includes cloud-based access to historical and near-real time high resolution satellite imagery, a robust data set describing the local environment, and a highly detailed Digital Surface Model (DSM) of Rio de Janeiro and the Olympic venues.

The imagery and imagery-derived products are information-rich and analyst-ready, allowing security teams to quickly unlock critical information and spend the bulk of their time analyzing the data, rather than searching for information, the company said.

“Global event security requires rapid access to current, accurate, and complete geospatial information for enhanced contingency planning, risk management, and emergency response,” said Daniel L. Jablonsky, DigitalGlobe General Counsel and General Manager for International Defense & Intelligence. “As a trusted partner, DigitalGlobe will help governments and security agencies be confident in their ability to keep their athletes and spectators safe during the Summer Olympic Games.”

Included in the Summer Olympic Security Package are:

Basemap +Daily

DigitalGlobe Basemap +Daily is a premier subscription service that provides historical and the most current imagery of Rio de Janeiro leading up to and during the 2016 Summer Olympic Games.

The Basemap +Daily service includes an online, historical foundation layer and the latest imagery collections from DigitalGlobe’s full constellation of imaging satellites, with resolution as sharp as 30 cm and terrain and perspective distortions removed to make for a suitable map base layer.

Users can view and download imagery within hours of acquisition to support a broad range of event security applications and ensure the protection of athletes, spectators and supporting resources.

Human Landscape

DigitalGlobe’s Human Landscape product delivers an intimate understanding of the local environment, including everything from details on transportation infrastructure, to population characteristics, to crime rates.

The Rio de Janeiro Olympic Security Package consists of more than 100 geospatial layers containing more than 80,000 features and 1.25 million building footprints extracted and compiled from DigitalGlobe imagery and publicly available data. The dataset provides a baseline of understanding that allows geospatial analysts to get a head start on pre-event planning, threat and risk assessment, and emergency response modeling.

The highly detailed database contains 600 percent more location-based content than public datasets, enabling analysts to quickly answer meaningful questions related to location, time, and context.

Vricon DSM

Vricon, a joint venture between DigitalGlobe and Saab, produces Vricon DSM from commercial satellite imagery with an automated 3D modeling technology.

Vricon DSM is delivered rapidly and with high precision over both urban and rural areas. It features 0.5 m post-spacing and 3 m absolute accuracy in all dimensions, enabling analysts to determine, for example, where helicopters can land, where radio communications are possible, and where lines of sight are clear or obstructed.

The package is designed for
- Mission rehearsal and contingency (evacuation) planning
- Situational awareness
- Logisitics
- Force protection
- Personnel and civilian security
- Cross-service collaboration
- View-shed analysis and radio frequency (RF) propagation planning
- Threat assessment and monitoring
- Tipping and cueing
- Anticipatory mapping
Velodrome, Carioca Arena 3, 2 and 1 and Future Arena (in the background), and the Olympic Tennis Center (on the right) at Barra Olympic Park. By André Motta/brasil2016.gov.br
August 3, 2016
what3words addresses Rio ahead of Summer Olympics

The RioGo app.

what3word’s three-word addressing system has been integrated into numerous mapping and navigation services ahead of the Summer Olympics, being held in Rio de Janiero, Brazil, Aug. 5-21.

what3words is used in the RioGo app (which won the Rio Olympics Transport Challenge) and Navmii, an offline satnav app.

what3words makes it easy to find and get to any location in the world, the company explains. The service works both online and offline, and is based on a location reference platform that uses a global grid of 57 trillion 3 x 3-meter squares. Each square has a unique pre-assigned three-word address, no matter how remote. This makes it easy to both pinpoint an address and communicate it — in whichever of its nine different languages travelers prefer, including Brazil’s national tongue Portuguese.

At the Olympics, specifying exactly where to meet or where to go can be difficult. For example, there are four entrances to the Aquatic stadium: expired.stud.cucumber, carbon.padding.puddles, ducks.hillside.frocks and saying.rosette.slogged.

Meeting friends or family in the Olympic Park is easy — meeting at forgiven.milder.dragon (the handball entrance in the Future Arena). If medical attention is needed, tourists can navigate offline to the Jacarepagua Pharmacy is at hint.laws.squares, while the Victoria Hospital is at reheat.admit.take

Outside of the Olympic Park, tourists can park near the Christ the Redeemer statue at puff.goggles.really, or find the start of the walking trail to Sugar Loaf at replays.chain.assist.

Getting around with what3words

There are many different ways what3words will be used during the Olympics. what3words is in RioGo, the official Olympics public transit app — so visitors can use multi-modal journeys (bus, bike hire, walking, taxi…) to navigate around the city.

For navigation when walking or driving, users can type in three-word addresses into Navmii for offline routing to and from three-word addresses.

PocketEarth, an app available on Apple OS, lets users view worldwide street maps and key locations of hostels, cafés, bars, hiking trails and more. Guests simply download the offline map for Brazil and they can navigate the entire country simply, using 3 word addresses for every location.

When planning their trip, visitors can use TripUGo’s travel guide to find museums, swimming spots, adventure playgrounds, hiking and biking trails and much more. Every TripUGo location has its 3 word address listed — from the skatepark at akward.tilting.beams or the Casa do Pontal Museum at owner.includes.solo to the surf spot at Saquarema beach.

Guest houses are now listing their three-word addresses to make sure travelers can find them, even offline. Brazilrentmyhouse.com, for example, set up by entrepreneur Matthew Parker to help visitors find local accommodation during the Rio Games, lists three-word addresses for each rental.

Rio Security

DigitalGlobe has developed an extensive security package to ensure the safety of guests and athletes during Rio 2016. Using its fleet of WorldView satellites, DigitalGlobe’s package that detects disruptions to infrastructure, identifies high-crime zones and offers the most up-to-date imagery of Rio as seen from space, providing security officials with the information needed to formulate comprehensive security planning. It also will help people avoid mosquito zones (Brazil is facing a servere Zika virus outbreak).

what3words has been integrated into the platform. While GPS coordinates are accurate, communicating long strings of numbers between humans is prone to error. With what3words, security teams and those on the ground can quickly identify and easily communicate incidents, team rallying points, helicopter landing sites or temporary triage tents. They can share an accurate location with a paramedic, a security team member or even with civilians and guests.

The DigitalGlobe Rio Olympics security package consists of more than 100 geospatial layers containing over 80,000 features and 1.25 million building footprints, extracted and compiled from DigitalGlobe imagery and publicly available data.

Brazil doesn’t track addresses for its favelas, such as Rio’s largest, Rocinha.

what3words in the favelas

The residents of Rio’s largest favela, Rocinha, already know all about the efficiency of what3words. According to many official maps, Rocinha is just an empty space. More than 3,000 streets and the homes of more than 70,000 residents are invisible.

The Brazilian post office does not deliver in favelas, but a local co-operative, Carteiro Amigo, is using what3words to address every single house in the teeming favela to safely deliver letters and parcels.

August 3, 2016
OGC requests participation in its marine working group

The Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) is calling for public participation in its newly established Marine Domain Working Group (Marine DWG).

The Marine DWG was established to address applicability of the OGC standards baseline with regards to marine geospatial data, and to ensure knowledge is exchanged effectively between the relevant standards organizations, the OGC membership, and the broader geospatial community.

Geospatial data in the marine domain has been successfully standardized for navigational purposes by hydrographic agencies for many years. This has allowed mariners to safely navigate oceans, ports and waterways anywhere on earth.

However, the core data that support this activity is now in demand for a much wider range of applications, including environmental protection, emergency response, offshore energy, fisheries and more. As such, interoperability of this data is more important than ever before.

While this group will not create new standards, it will be an open forum to discuss and understand any issues, concerns, or barriers to interoperability with the aim to ensure that marine data can be used effectively by the wider community.

The OGC is looking for interested parties to assist the Marine DWG in achieving its goals. Details on the Marine Domain Working Group are available, along with the charter. Interested parties can join the email list.

August 3, 2016
Red Hen’s isWhere 3.1.0 offers fast processing for geotagged imagery
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.
August 2, 2016
U.S. Navy awards defense contract to Esri for support services

SeapPort-e, the U.S. Navy’s electronic platform for acquiring support services, has awarded Esri a defense contract for its geographic information system (GIS) technology services. SeaPort-e provides a standardized, efficient means of soliciting services and support from businesses small and large.

This indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity (IDIQ) contract simplifies the acquisition process for the federal government by facilitating multiple task orders for customers without forcing companies to recompete. The SeaPort-e platform acquires support services in 22 functional areas and conducts rolling admissions to encourage small business participation. Nearly 85 percent of SeaPort-e’s contract holders include small businesses.

Esri collaborated with nine small business team members — Aerial Information Systems; APEX Expert Solutions LLC; Geographic Information Services, Inc.; Lynker Technologies, LLC; Metron Incorporated; Orca Maritime, Inc.; Punctuate Systems, Inc.; T3W Business Solutions; and VSolvit LLC — to participate in the contract. Each team member offers expertise that is complementary to Esri’s support program.

Esri is committed to supporting small businesses in their objectives to grow their federal footprint and, earlier this year, launched Federal Small Business Specialty, a partner program to enable that mission.

Partnering with Esri offers many opportunities for small businesses to provide consulting, implementation, and solutions to meet geospatial requirements and provide ArcGIS software related services, Esri said. SeaPort-e will allow Esri to leverage small business partners’ capabilities and also support their growth.

“Our business model is to team up with Esri partners to serve U.S. Navy customers,” said Curt Hammill, Esri navy account executive. “Our goal is to make them both successful. SeaPort-e gives us a new vehicle to do that.”

Esri joins other awardees in providing support to the U.S. Navy across areas such as research and development, systems engineering, modeling and simulation, software engineering, and quality assurance.

August 2, 2016
Launchpad: OEM, UAV and survey/mapping products

OEM

Geodetic Antennas

For RTK, PPP, and other precision applications

The VP6300 is a triple-band antenna for reception of GPS L1/L2/L5, GLONASS G1/G2/G3, BeiDou B1/B2 and Galileo E1/E5a+b (1165MHz to 1254MHz + 1560MHz to 1610MHz). The VP6200 is a dual-band antenna for reception of GPS L1/L2, GLONASS G1/G2, BeiDou B1/B2, Galileo E1 and the L-Band correction services (1195 MHz to 1254 MHz + 1525 MHz to 1610 MHz). Both antennas have been calibrated by the U.S. National Geodetic Survey and are designed for high-precision applications such as real-time kinematic, precise point positioning and other applications where precision matters. The antennas feature an available, uncommitted printed circuit board for integration of custom electronics such as precision GNSS receivers. Both antennas feature the VeraPhase technology used in the VP6000 all-band reference antenna.

Tallysman, www.tallysman.com

‘Future Proof’ RTK

For rover or base station

The Altus APS3G is a real-time kinematic (RTK) receiver that brings technology from scientific receivers into the field for professional surveyors. The new multi-constellation APS3G addresses major concerns about compatibility with new satellite constellations, as well as interference and jamming. Built on Septentrio’s AsteRx4 engine, the APS3G tracks all-in-view GPS, GLONASS, BeiDou, IRNSS, SBAS, Galileo and QZSS, including E6/L6 and all other signals known to be available in the medium term. The APS3G incorporates Septentrio’s AIM technology with three notch filters for in-band jamming and chirp jammer resistance, ensuring the highest possible levels of accuracy and resilience under all conditions. It provides optimum GSM signal reception, as well as a built-in advanced UHF receiver for reliable performance on longer baselines, yielding real-time 25-Hz RTK.

Septentrio, www.septentrio.com

GNSS Receiver

Offshore surveys, machine control, crustal deformation

CHC’s N72 GNSS series offers high-end receivers for GNSS applications including offshore surveys and machine control, national geodetic networks, crustal deformation monitoring and bathymetry. It was designed to provide all the necessary technical features required for geodetic surveying and demanding applications such as Continuously Operating Reference Stations (CORS), on-board machine control and disaster monitoring. Embedded battery supports 15 working hours without external power supply; 32-GB internal memory integrated and 1TB+ external memory supported; Eight threads of logging with circulating storage and FTP push functions; Wi-Fi, LAN, Bluetooth and serial ports for data communications; and LCD display and function buttons for direct configuration.

CHC, www.chcnav.com

Anti-Jam Antenna

Suitable for airborne platforms

The GAJT-AE-N anti-jam antenna is designed for size- and weight-constrained applications such as small airborne and ground unmanned platforms where it is preferable to mount the antenna electronics inside the vehicle. Users can select from a variety of four-element Controlled Reception Pattern Antennas (CRPA) and cabling lengths to meet the form factor requirements of their installation. Interference mitigation is achieved by applying proprietary digital beamforming algorithms to the signals, creating dynamic nulls to give protection against narrowband and broadband interference sources. GAJT-AE-N comes in variants that protect L1 and L2 signals in wide or narrow band. The wide bandwidth version ensures future compatibility with M-code GPS.

NovAtel, www.novatel.com

Transportation

GNSS Modules

Automotive-grade positioning modules

The NEO-M8Q-01A and the NEO-M8L-01A positioning modules provide concurrent reception of GPS, GLONASS, Beidou and Galileo. The NEO-M8L-01A is suited to providing 100 percent dead-reckoning positioning coverage even in areas of weak signal such as in tunnels or multi-story car parks or those experiencing poor signal quality such as caused by multipath reflections. This module is qualified to operate in the -40 to +85 degrees temperature range. The NEO-M8Q-01 GNSS module is the first GNSS module able to operate across the extended automotive temperature range from -40 to + 105 degrees Celsius.

u-blox, www.u-blox.com

Connected Car Reference Platform

Simplifies integration of advanced connectivity technologies into new vehicles

The Qualcomm Connected Car Reference Platform is aimed at accelerating the adoption of advanced and complex connectivity into the next-generation of connected cars. The product is designed to maintain pace with an ever-increasing set of automotive use cases facilitated by the latest advances in 4G LTE, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communications. The platform is also designed to solve for challenges such as wireless coexistence, future-proofing and support for a large number of in-car hardware architectures. The Connected Car Reference Platform is built upon Qualcomm Technologies’ broad automotive product and technology portfolio, including quad-constellation GNSS, Snapdragon X12 and X5 LTE modems, and 2D/3D dead-reckoning location solutions, Qualcomm VIVE Wi-Fi technology, Dedicated Short Range Communications (DSRC) for V2X, Bluetooth, Bluetooth Low Energy and broadcast capabilities such as analog and digital tuner support using software-defined radio via Qualcomm tuneX chips. In addition, the platform features in-vehicle networking technologies such as Gigabit (OABR) Ethernet with Automotive Audio Bus (A2B) and Controller Area Network (CAN) interfaces.

Qualcomm Technologies, www.qualcomm.com

SURVEY & MAPPING

Total Station App

Connects Android device to information gathered

Total Station Survey helps land surveyors and civil engineers view and inspect on any Android device the information gathered by the total station. It connects to the total station using Bluetooth or a USB-serial adapter/converter cable. It can measure horizontal and vertical angle, slope and horizontal distance, and set the horizontal angle on the total station. The app is available free on Google Play.

Systranova Software, play .google.com

Laser and Android App

Collect survey-grade accuracy with an Android device

The TruPoint 300 is a lightweight, compact point-and-shoot laser with survey-grade accuracy. It measures the distance between two remote points and has onboard solutions for volume, heights and 2D and 3D areas. Users can collect 3D measurements from a single location using a personal smart device and capture a photo of every shot taken, using LTI’s MapSmart on Android software. MapSmart combines sophisticated technology typically required to collect field data and puts it into a straightforward app for smart devices. It simplifies the mapping process by allowing users to establish an origin quickly and begin mapping in just minutes. Users can integrate location data using the GPS from a smart device or improve accuracy with an external antenna.
Laser Technology, www.lasertech.com

Laser Technology, www.lasertech.com

Smartphone App

Quick land measurements

GPS Fields Area Measure Pro is easy, intuitive, app to manage area, distance, perimeter. It enables fast area/distance marking, and ha a Smart Marker Mode for accurate pin placement. Its GPS tracking enables auto measurement while walking or driving around a boundary. Users can share an auto-generated link with boundary/selected area/ direction/route. GPS Field Area Measure useful as map measurement tool for outdoor activities, sports, range finder applications, bike tour planning, or run tour planning, explore golf area, land survey, golf distance meter, field pasture area measure, garden and farm work and planning, area records, construction, agricultural fencing, solar panel installation – roof area estimation, trip planning.

Studio Noframe, play.google.com

Dedicated 3D Tablet

Capture and review 3D images in the field

The EyesMap tablet is a versatile instrument for modeling 3D scenes indoors and outdoors. It provides results while working in the field with real-time measurements. The tablet has a stereocamera, depth sensor scanner, GPS and inertial measureent unit. It also supports external cameras and other topographic instruments. Applications include crime scene investigation, archaeology and architecture documentation, as-built measurements and inspections, industrial and civil maintenance.

eCapture, www.ecapture.es

Handheld Collector

Entry-level GNSS device for GIS

The TDC100 handheld data collector is an entry-level GNSS device for a variety of geographic information system (GIS) applications. It combines both smartphone and ruggedized data collection capabilities in a single, mobile device. The Android-based TDC100 can run commercially available or in-house developed applications on a professional, IP-67 ruggedized platform with a sunlight readable display and user replaceable batteries. The built-in GNSS receiver also provides real-time accuracy. It supports GPS, GLONASS and BeiDou, as well as satellite-based augmentation system (SBAS) capabilities.

Trimble, www.trimble.com

UAV

Reconnaissance Kit

Situational awareness for disaster relief

The Digital Mapping Reconnaissance Toolkit (DMRT) provides real-time reconnaissance for disaster relief and other time-sensitive situations. . It is a custom configuration of cameras, laser rangefinder, GPS unit and software all linked through the Red Hen VMS-333 multiplexing system. Users can create up-to-date orthomosaic maps and 3D models, as well as geotag reference points in impacted areas without a time lag. Users can create search patterns and map with situational awareness. Both modular aerial and land-based solutions are available

Red Hen Systems, www.redhensystems.com

UAV Backpack

Intelligent Obstacle Navigation

The Typhoon H UAV with Intel RealSense Technology comes with a factory installed Intel RealSense R200 Camera and quadcore Intel Atom processor, an ST16 controller with a Wizard controller for dual operator mode, two batteries and extra propellers, all packed in a custom designed backpack. RealSense Technology enables Typhoon H to fly autonomously, intelligently navigating around objects. The Intel RealSense R200 Camera and the Atom processor work seamlessly with the flight-control firmware to add intelligent obstacle navigation. With a combination of specialized cameras and sensors, this Intel system maps and learns its environment in 3D, recognizing each obstacle, planning an alternative route, and safely navigating around it — an advancement over ultrasonic collision prevention, which automatically stops short of obstacles but cannot model the environment or intelligently reroute around obstacles. The module also adds downward facing sensors to improve stability, enabling flight indoors or outdoors close to the ground, even with poor GPS reception.

Yuneec International, www.yuneec.com

Intelligence Platform

Insight for complex missions

Mission Insight provides UAS operators in deployed situations with a common operating picture in a customized graphical interface. The commercial off-the-shelf application processes and analyzes large streams of data from disparate sources in real-time. It ensures real-time, in-depth data access for mission-critical events even in remote environments or low-bandwidth situations. Complex data filtering, advanced processing and timing techniques enable Mission Insight to prioritize data and allow transmission as low as 2400 baud. The complete information management solution —including archival and replay capabilities in addition to the correlation, fusion and analytical tools — aid in training, post-operation analysis, incident investigation and review of operational effectiveness.

Simulyze, www.simulyze.com

Multi-Spectral Camera

Situational awareness for disaster relief

Sequoia is a small, light multispectral UAS sensor that captures images of crops across four highly defined, visible and non-visible spectral bands, plus RGB imagery. Sequoia is fully compatible with the eBee Ag and other eBee platforms via senseFly’s proprietary Integration Kit. It has four 1.2 megapixel sensors (near-infrared, red-edge, red and green) plus one 16 megapixel RGB sensor, providing multispectral and RGB imagery from a single flight. An upward-facing Sunshine Sensor automatically calibrates Sequoia’s multispectral sensors for accurate imagery, whatever the light conditions. The camera unit can be configured over Wi-Fi and has 64-GB of built-in storage; the Sunshine Sensor has GPS, an IMU, a magnetometer and SD card slot

senseFly, www.sensefly.com

August 1, 2016
Esri and Leica partner to offer grants to governments

Geographic information system (GIS) provider Esri has partnered with Swiss-based spatial measurement instrument manufacturer Leica Geosystems to encourage innovation of mobile field data collection in government by offering grants totaling $143,250 in goods and services.

Known as the Smart Communities Innovation Challenge, 10 governments that submit detailed project proposals demonstrating increased efficiencies in collecting data for decision support or improved productivity in delivering governmental services will be selected to receive a grant.

Project proposals will be accepted from Aug. 15, 2016, until the official submission deadline at 5 p.m. (Pacific daylight time) on Oct. 14, 2016. Grant recipients will be announced on Oct. 31.

To be entered for consideration, proposal submissions must be uploaded in conjunction with the organization’s identifying information through a form on the Smart Communities Innovation Challenge landing page.

So long as operations are based in the United States, any government or department, whether municipal, regional, special districts, state, city, county, or otherwise, is qualified to receive a grant.

To be selected, it is necessary that a project confirm the value of combining GIS and Global Positioning System (GPS) technologies for data collection, optimizing workloads, and providing real-time information that supports field mobility. Proposal reviewers will look for ideas that support complete workflows extended to back-office processes such as operational dashboards.

Priority will be given to projects that tie GIS and GPS to daily workloads, influence sharing of geographically enabled data across multiple jurisdictions or interdepartmental ventures, and clearly convey a perceived benefit or return on investment.

The intent of the joint program is to supply governments with the tools to succeed as they implement progressive methods to streamline workflows. By providing technology, training, and technical support grants, Esri and Leica aim to inspire legislative bodies to devise transformational approaches to improving the efficiency of mobile fieldworkers.

As innovative ideas from the government community are brought forward for solving real-world problems, the best applications will be those of universal appeal and the ability to be shared between governments through an open exchange hub.

The challenge’s grant winners will be thought-leading governments that have plans in place to jump-start projects such as facility inspections, emergency reporting, asset inventory, environmental management and monitoring, efficient employee routing, code enforcement, population and housing enumeration, mosquito abatement and/or sign inventory.

To learn more about the Smart Communities Innovation Challenge and other grants sponsored by Esri, visit go.esri.com/pr-mobilegrant.

August 1, 2016
Helping the blind see: UAV mapping turns UNESCO site into 3D model

The ancient city-kingdom of Kourion on the southwestern coast of Cyprus can now be “seen” by those with impaired vision.

Kourion, part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Paphos, was once an important urban center. While most of the archaeological remains — including several buildings with well conserved floor mosaics — date to the Roman and Early Byzantine periods, the most ancient finds connect to settlements and tombs of the Ceramic Neolithic period (circa 5500-4000 BCE).

A tactile map: In summer 2015, sections of the virtual 3D model, including the amphitheater, were printed in 3D and displayed in the visitor center with Braille explanations, providing an interactive history to those with visual impairments.

British drone manufacturer QuestUAV, in cooperation with the Cyprus University of Technology, acquired high-resolution aerial images of Kourion Archaeological Park with a surveying drone, and then created a virtual 3D model from the images with Pix4Dmapper Pro.

The QuestUAV team (a pilot and laptop commander) flew over 100 hectare of the archaeological park at 400 feet with a Q-200 Surveyor drone equipped with a Sony A6000 camera and a 16mm wide-angle lens, taking 330 aerial photographs during a 20-minute, fully autonomous flight.

The automatic camera trigger and the gimbaled camera system enabled acquisition of pin-sharp pictures, even at wind speeds of up to 40 kilometers per hour.

The images have a ground sampling distance of 2.5 centimeters with an overlap of 80 percent in flight direction and 65 percent sidelap. During the flight, the Q-200 Surveyor recorded the GPS coordinates of each camera position in a log file, allowing for image geo-location.

The entire survey took no longer than an afternoon.

Aerial view of the ampitheatre.

July 25, 2016
Social Media and Big Data 101 for GIS Professionals

Broadcast Date: Thursday, March 28, 2013
Moderator: Art Kalinski, Editor, GeoIntelligence Insider Newsletter
Speakers: Eric Gakstatter, Editor, Geospatial-Solutions.com, Survey Scene Newsletter; Dr. Dan Tolley, CEO, Soft Power Solutions; Gen. Edwin “Skip” Vincent (USAF Ret.), Founder, Soft Power Solutions; Bob Dowling, Co-founder, GeoCOP; Steve Lutton, Director, Product Management, Geosemble Solutions.
Summary: Experts in this growing field will discuss the basics for those new to leveraging the technology in their GIS operation. Topics will include different kinds of social media, human geography, traits of each, other related public media, and several case studies and examples.

July 15, 2016