The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) is seeking public input on development of the second U.S. National Plan for Civil Earth Observations, the 2017 National Plan for Civil Earth Observations.
Today, the Federal Register posted OSTP’s Request for Information (RFI) on the development of the plan, which will build upon the priorities and supporting actions identified in the 2014 National Plan for Civil Earth Observations. Through it, OSTP aims to advance the United State’s capabilities to ensure stable, continuous and coordinated Earth observations for the benefit of society.
The public input provided will inform OSTP as it works with federal agencies and other stakeholders to develop the plan.
OSTP welcomes input to develop the plan, and encourages anyone interested to respond via the RFI’s electronic template (to be posted here), which should be sent to [email protected].
Comments of up to approximately 2,000 characters per question are requested and must be received by 11:59 p.m. (Eastern Time), July 15, 2016, to be considered.
The project raised the dam height by 60 centimeters, reinforcing existing abutments and adding two piano key spillways.
At the Razisse dam in southwest France, a Spectra Precision Focus 35 robotic total station was used to monitor structural movements during major repairs.
The Focus 35 total station on the job.
The Focus 35 monitored to a half-millimeter accuracy movement of the arch dam abutments during a critical six-week period in the project. Raising the height of the dam was expected to cause the abutments to settle, so the Focus 35 was positioned to measure XY movement to ensure they were settling properly and within expectations.
Measurements were taken at each step, with results communicated in real time to the contractor through an Excel file. The results enabled engineers to make critical decisions on whether to move further into the project. The final movement was less than a tenth of a millimeter, well within the acceptable value.
Drone-maker 3DR is teaming up with Esri to integrate 3DR’s Site Scan software with Esri Drone2Map.
3DR made the announcement at the Esri User Conference, held last week in San Diego.
Designed for the field professional, Site Scan is an intuitive, powerful and open aerial data capture and analytics platform that delivers an end-to-end solution ready-made for existing mapping and survey workflows, 3DR said in a news release. With Site Scan and Drone2Map, Esri customers can safely, quickly and easily conduct surveys with the Solo smart drone and effortlessly deliver that data to ArcGIS and ArcGIS Online.
“Aerial data capture technology is bringing about a revolution in surveying and mapping,” said Lawrie Jordan, Director of Imaging and Remote Sensing at Esri. “We are thrilled to partner with 3DR to streamline the creation of professional imagery products with Site Scan and Drone2Map for ArcGIS. Together we will accelerate the development and use of remote sensing across all industries.”
Site Scan automatically calculates a flight plan and Solo autonomously executes both flight and image capture. Images are processed and integrated with Esri Drone2Map to create high-resolution georeferenced maps and digital elevation models to share as tile or feature services in ArcGIS and ArcGIS Online.
“Capturing site data today is costly, time consuming and often dangerous. Drones can easily go where it’s inefficient or unsafe for field personnel, making it easier to accurately measure our world so we can better analyze and manage it,” said Chris Anderson, CEO of 3DR. “We’re delighted to partner with such a great industry leader and integrate Site Scan with Esri Drone2Map. Together, we offer a complete solution for site capture that will help our customers create maps that tell stories, record change over time and perform analysis all while saving time, saving money and keeping humans out of harm’s way.”
Site Scan makes it safer and easier than ever for people in land management, GIS, mapping, energy, infrastructure and related fields to aggregate and process multiple forms of aerial imagery and data and easily incorporate them into the Esri tools they use every day, 3DR said.
Engineering and survey firm McKim & Creed, based in Fort Worth, Texas, is one customer. “Utilizing the 3DR Solo and SiteScan allowed McKim & Creed to confidently collect accurate spatial information in dangerous and demanding environments where it would have been difficult to use traditional survey methods,” said Christian Stallings, R&D Manager at McKim & Creed.
“Using Esri’s Drone2Map software, surveyed ground control and 3DR’s Solo, we were able to collect detailed elevation information and high-resolution orthophotography over a dredging containment pond operated by the United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE). This approach proved to be accurate and kept people out of harm’s way — which would only be achievable using this approach,” Stallings said.
3DR designed Site Scan as an open and extensible platform. On the hardware side, the Solo smart drone has open gimbal and accessory bays, which give both 3DR and their global technology partners the ability to integrate additional cameras and sensors.
Additionally, Solo firmware updates optimize the drone’s flight profile and performance. On the software side, 3DR continually updates the Site Scan application so that customers can take advantage of the most recent and advanced analytics technologies.
With Site Scan, even users new to drone technology will fly with confidence from day one. The Site Scan app includes 3DR’s airspace safety information software, which alerts users if they’re about to fly in restricted airspace. They can then pull up a map of the area with all restrictions around them clearly marked.
To support enterprise customers further, 3DR offers Success Services, including the Premier Success Plan. Included with their purchase of Success Services, all Site Scan users will have access to experts on Site Scan and Solo. They will also have a Solo overnight replacement guarantee should anything go wrong with one of their drones.
Site Scan with Solo Enterprise is available immediately for order on store.3dr.com, priced at $3249 with a monthly service fee of $499 paid annually with a 12-month commitment.
Dean Angelides, director of International Operations, Esri (left), and Feng Xianquang, director for NGCC, signed the historic agreement to share data with users around the world.
Esri and the National Geomatics Center of China (NGCC) have signed an agreement providing access to NGCC’s mapping web services, starting this fall.
The historic agreement will allow more users outside of China to access the country’s authoritative cartographic and imagery data. Users of the Esri ArcGIS platform will have access to the maps for no additional charge.
NGCC is a government agency attached to National Administration of Surveying, Mapping (NASG) and Geoinformation of China. NGCC is responsible for national data that is used in surveying and mapping projects in China, as well as facilitating the scientific and technological communication between agencies in China, in the areas of sharing geographic data and services over the web.
“The cooperation between NGCC and Esri will enable a large number of ArcGIS online users to gain access to the rich regional online geodata of China,” said Zhigang Li, NASG chief engineer, on behalf of NASG. “The agreement will facilitate the scientific and technological communication between agencies by sharing geographic information and services over the web in the Asia Pacific Region. NGCC hopes this joint work is able to promote regional, even global, promotion of spatial data.”
“We are honored to work with the government of China to provide access to the most current and authoritative basemaps for the country,” said Jack Dangermond, president of Esri. “We look forward to continued collaboration.”
The web services will be available in the third quarter of 2016.
Today at the Esri User Conference, 3DR announced that it has teamed up with Esri to integrate 3DR’s Site Scan with Esri Drone2Map.
Designed for the field professional, Site Scan is an intuitive, powerful and open aerial data capture and analytics platform that delivers an end-to-end solution ready-made for existing mapping and survey workflows, 3DR said in a news release. With Site Scan and Drone2Map, Esri customers can safely, quickly and easily conduct surveys with the Solo smart drone and effortlessly deliver that data to ArcGIS and ArcGIS Online.
“Aerial data capture technology is bringing about a revolution in surveying and mapping,” said Lawrie Jordan, Director of Imaging and Remote Sensing at Esri. “We are thrilled to partner with 3DR to streamline the creation of professional imagery products with Site Scan and Drone2Map for ArcGIS. Together we will accelerate the development and use of remote sensing across all industries.”
Site Scan automatically calculates a flight plan and Solo autonomously executes both flight and image capture. Images are processed and integrated with Esri Drone2Map to create high-resolution georeferenced maps and digital elevation models to share as tile or feature services in ArcGIS and ArcGIS Online.
“Capturing site data today is costly, time consuming and often dangerous. Drones can easily go where it’s inefficient or unsafe for field personnel, making it easier to accurately measure our world so we can better analyze and manage it,” said Chris Anderson, CEO of 3DR. “We’re delighted to partner with such a great industry leader and integrate Site Scan with Esri Drone2Map. Together, we offer a complete solution for site capture that will help our customers create maps that tell stories, record change over time and perform analysis all while saving time, saving money and keeping humans out of harm’s way.”
Site Scan makes it safer and easier than ever for people in land management, GIS, mapping, energy, infrastructure and related fields to aggregate and process multiple forms of aerial imagery and data and easily incorporate them into the Esri tools they use every day, 3DR said.
Engineering and survey firm McKim & Creed, based in Fort Worth, Texas, is one customer. “Utilizing the 3DR Solo and SiteScan allowed McKim & Creed to confidently collect accurate spatial information in dangerous and demanding environments where it would have been difficult to use traditional survey methods,” said Christian Stallings, R&D Manager at McKim & Creed.
“Using Esri’s Drone2Map software, surveyed ground control and 3DR’s Solo, we were able to collect detailed elevation information and high-resolution orthophotography over a dredging containment pond operated by the United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE). This approach proved to be accurate and kept people out of harm’s way — which would only be achievable using this approach,” Stallings said.
3DR designed Site Scan as an open and extensible platform. On the hardware side, the Solo smart drone has open gimbal and accessory bays, which give both 3DR and their global technology partners the ability to integrate additional cameras and sensors.
Additionally, Solo firmware updates optimize the drone’s flight profile and performance. On the software side, 3DR continually updates the Site Scan application so that customers can take advantage of the most recent and advanced analytics technologies.
With Site Scan, even users new to drone technology will fly with confidence from day one. The Site Scan app includes 3DR’s airspace safety information software, which alerts users if they’re about to fly in restricted airspace. They can then pull up a map of the area with all restrictions around them clearly marked.
To support enterprise customers further, 3DR offers Success Services, including the Premier Success Plan. Included with their purchase of Success Services, all Site Scan users will have access to experts on Site Scan and Solo. They will also have a Solo overnight replacement guarantee should anything go wrong with one of their drones.
Site Scan with Solo Enterprise is available immediately for order on store.3dr.com, priced at $3249 with a monthly service fee of $499 paid annually with a 12-month commitment.
The fire swept through Fort McMurray, destroying more than 1,600 homes and buildings and forcing the largest wildfire evacuation in Alberta’s history.
People described it as hell on Earth, comparing the disaster to movies, war, and the apocalypse. By the end of the week, the fire had grown to more than 101,000 hectares, significantly larger than the city of Calgary.
BURN SCAR: On May 4, the Landsat 7 satellite’s Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus acquired this false-color image combining shortwave infrared, near infrared and green light (bands 5-4-2). Near- and short-wave infrared help penetrate clouds and smoke to reveal hot spots of fire (red), smoke (white) and burned areas (brown).
The entire city population of 88,000 evacuated in a rush, many through falling embers from wildfires beside roadways.
On May 5, DigitalGlobe’s WorldView-3 satellite (WV-3) peered through smoke using shortwave infrared to take the image on the left. GIS analysts can also measure the intensity of the fire using the image.
As of press time, the fires continue to spread across northeast Alberta, impacting Canada’s oil sand operations, and into the neighboring province of Saskatchewan.
The wildfire may become the most costly disaster in Canadian history.
The fire swept through Fort McMurray, destroying more than 1,600 homes and buildings and forcing the largest wildfire evacuation in Alberta’s history.
People described it as hell on Earth, comparing the disaster to movies, war, and the apocalypse. By the end of the week, the fire had grown to more than 101,000 hectares, significantly larger than the city of Calgary.
BURN SCAR: On May 4, the Landsat 7 satellite’s Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus acquired this false-color image combining shortwave infrared, near infrared and green light (bands 5-4-2). Near- and short-wave infrared help penetrate clouds and smoke to reveal hot spots of fire (red), smoke (white) and burned areas (brown).
The entire city population of 88,000 evacuated in a rush, many through falling embers from wildfires beside roadways.
On May 5, DigitalGlobe’s WorldView-3 satellite (WV-3) peered through smoke using shortwave infrared to take the image on the left. GIS analysts can also measure the intensity of the fire using the image.
As of press time, the fires continue to spread across northeast Alberta, impacting Canada’s oil sand operations, and into the neighboring province of Saskatchewan.
The wildfire may become the most costly disaster in Canadian history.
Esri and Harris Corporation are embarking on a broad strategic relationship to develop modernized foundation GEOINT data production, apps and tools within a WebGIS environment, for federal agencies.
The partnership will advance the state-of-the-art in automated GEOINT (geointelligence) production methods leveraging commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS)-based solutions.
The collaborative effort will help programs across multiple security domains to meet the expected surge of commercial imagery from small satellites, unmanned aerial system (UAS) platforms and open-data sources.
Visit Esri and Harris Corporation at GEOINT Symposium 2016 this week: booth 828 Harris; Booth 600 Esri.
Quanergy Systems, a provider of lidar sensors and smart sensing solutions, is offering a new sensor.
Quanergy’s S3 lidar sensor
The S3-Qi is a miniature solid-state lidar sensor that is 15 percent the size of the previous solid-state model, the S3. Quanergy is displaying the new sensor along with its other products in Booth 767 at AUVSI’s Xponential May 3-5 in New Orleans.
The S3-Qi, offered four months after the original S3, has a smaller 1 inch by 1.5-inch footprint, weighs about 100 grams and has low power consumption. The small form factor, combined with a cost-effective design, makes the S3-Qi well suited for applications such as drones, intelligent robotics, security, smart homes and industrial automation.
Mass production of the S3-Qi is targeted for the first quarter of 2017.
“We are excited to raise the bar, once again, with the expansion of our product portfolio,” said Louay Eldada, Quanergy CEO. “We continue to push the boundaries on behalf of our customers. The S3-Qi is a testament to our focus on the user and our investment in innovation for game-changing smart sensing solutions offered at price points that make their use ubiquitous. In drones, payload and battery runtime benefit greatly from our compact sensors.”
Quanergy’s lidar sensors have applications in more than 30 market verticals including security, transportation, terrestrial and aerial mapping, and industrial automation.
In Northern Idaho, not only is the Silver Valley near Kellogg one of the richest silver mining areas ever, but it is also the focus of an extensive EPA Superfund cleanup. There are more than 600 mine and prospecting sites in Shoshone County alone. So how do we sort through them and figure out where buildings were, and what sites were actually developed?
Photo Credit: United States Forest Service, 1968
Using aerial photography and GIS technology, historians, archaeologists and environmental scientists are able to look into the past and determine what actually occurred at individual sites. The United States Forest Service (USFS) and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) took aerial photographs of the entire area in 1937, 1948, 1965 and 1974. Other years, they partially photographed the area. Since then, aerial flyovers have been replaced by satellite imagery. All of this data tells environmental scientists where to look for waste materials.
It also tells archeologists where to look for old structures and other manmade features. Because before a mine site can be cleaned up, it’s history must be documented. Between historic imagery and modern satellite coverage, this task is made simpler.
Archaeologists all over the world are applying these same techniques, so it comes as no surprise that the 2016 TED Prize, awarded annually, went to space archaeologist Dr. Sarah Parcak of the University of Alabama at Birmingham, whose wish is to: “…discover the millions of unknown archaeological sites across the globe. By creating a 21st-century army of global explorers, we’ll find and protect the world’s hidden heritage, which contains humankind’s collective resilience and creativity,” she told the Alabama News Center.
Photo Credit: Wikimedia
Parcak first earned international attention by satellite mapping Egypt using infrared imagery, discovering “17 potential unknown pyramids, 1,000 tombs and 3,100 settlements.” At the heart of her program is an online, citizen scientist, interactive platform that will allow anyone to discover ancient sites from space. The same information and imagery gathered over time will allow her and her teams to monitor looting.
The program works simply: Once users take a quick tutorial, they are “dealt” a series of images from a deck with a general location like Northern Italy. The images are of a 50-meter-square area, and have already been processed to simplify the explorer’s search. The exact GPS location is encrypted similar to the way patient data privacy is preserved in Electronic Medical Records (EMR) to protect the exact location from potential looters and unethical archeological expeditions.
All potential discoveries, once vetted, will be passed along to authorities along with the GIS data, so they can then excavate or protect the sites. This enables archaeologists not only to detect sites, but to find and stop looters in a matter of days or weeks rather than months or years.
GIS can play a huge role in these and other archeological projects, and with the integration of virtual reality, the possibilities are even more exciting.
Georeferencing Maps and Historical Photos
While this is not possible with all sites, historical photos of some areas give archaeologists clues of where to start looking for more recent structures and human activity. Georeferencing ancient maps and photos or drawings where possible show what features have changed, what has remained the same, and what impact modern human activity has had on the site.
Photo Credit: YouTube
“Rebuilding” Structures
Once foundations and other evidence of structures have been found, 3D modeling software such as Esri CityEngine can be used in conjunction with photos to virtually reconstruct buildings, terrain and other features. This gives archeologists and scholars insight to how each site might have been used, and what other evidence to look for.
Virtual Reality
As 360-degree cameras have become more affordable and portable (with the release of several new models like the Nikon KeyMission 360), filming sites once they have been visited in this comprehensive way will allow archaeologists who are unable to physically reach the location to “look” for evidence, and offer advice and insight to those on location.
Explorers in Parcak’s programs who make new discoveries will be able to accompany archaeologists via Periscope, Skype, Google Hangouts and social media, all of which are headed toward 3D video capability, allowing for more immersive and meaningful visits.
Infrared photos from space allow us to see things on the ground not previously visible. Three dimensional modeling allows us to visualize structures no longer there, and 360-degree video and virtual reality allow us to visit these places from far away.
The way we discover new things about our world and the way we explore them is changing, and much of that change is possible due to the blend of GIS and virtual reality.
Troy Lambert is a freelance writer, editor and thriller author living in Boise Idaho. He became interested in using GIS for unique applications while at a museum, and now looks for and writes about unique ways GIS is used and can be used to change our world.
Hexagon AB plans to acquire the GeoRadar division of the Italian-based company Ingegneria dei Sistemi S.p.A, a privately owned company with core expertise in radar-based solutions for multiple industries.
Located near Pisa, Italy, with approximately 60 employees, the IDS GeoRadar division provides the mining and geospatial industries with innovative radar solutions for structural health monitoring and underground utility mapping.
GeoRadar’s structural health monitoring solutions enable engineers to remotely monitor — in real time — movements and vibrations of the earth such as mine walls, landslides, and glaciers and a wide variety of infrastructures such as bridges, buildings and dams. Its underground utility detection solutions provide engineers with dimensional information such as size and location of buried pipes and/or the health condition of roads and rail tracks through the detection of underground cracks and cavities.
“GeoRadar’s solutions nicely complement our reality capture solutions, enriching Hexagon’s portfolio across a wide variety of segments like surveying, construction and mining,” said Hexagon President and CEO Ola Rollén. “Additionally, combining GeoRadar’s technologies with our mobile reality capture portfolio broadens our solution offering for large-scale asset management across segments like utilities, road and rail.”
The transaction remains subject to customary closing conditions. Closing is expected during the second quarter of 2016. IDS GeoRadar turnover for 2015 amounted to approximately 18 MEUR.
Image objects/themes (“horizon”, “nature”) and landmarks (“savannah”) found by Google Cloud Vision service automatically added as tags.
The Nuxeo Platform is integrating with the Google Cloud Vision API, a new service providing information and insights automatically detected within images. The plugin is now available to download directly from the Nuxeo Marketplace, which offers optional packages to easily add new features to the Nuxeo Platform.
The Nuxeo Platform enables organizations to manage complex digital content at massive scale.
Using the plugin, the Nuxeo Platform exposes a powerful set of configurable image analysis features that can be applied upon file import, within a given workflow/business process, and/or on demand after a specific user action.
Nuxeo also applies Google Cloud Vision to videos using images (video frames) captured by the Nuxeo storyboard, identifying landmarks (“Eiffel Tower”) and objects/themes (“human action”, “mobile device”) saved as tags.
In addition to processing any image attached to content objects, the Nuxeo Platform also applies the capabilities to video, using images extracted from the video storyboard.
Image features detected by the Google Cloud Vision service are available for use with Nuxeo process automation and business logic, and can also be stored as metadata and tags on the content object, including:
Image labeling based on detection of common objects, landmarks, and/or brand logosFaces, if any, detected in the image, including simple sentiment recognition (e.g., “joy,” “sorrow”)
Text found within the image, extracted via OCR
Safe search detection of different types of inappropriate content
Other general image attributes, such as the dominant color
Additionally, the Nuxeo plugin enables developers to specify business logic for customized operations with the Google Cloud Vision service, such as invoking workflows based on the presence of automatically added image metadata.
“The Google Vision team has done exceptional work to develop this fast, reliable and incredibly valuable service,” said Eric Barroca, CEO at Nuxeo. “When the Google Cloud Vision API was placed in public beta last month, we recognized this was game-changing technology for media and digital asset management applications. We immediately went to work integrating this service into the Nuxeo Platform, and we’re proud to be among the first content management vendors to do so.”
Barroca added, “We strongly believe our integration with Google Vision greatly extends the strategic value of the Nuxeo Platform for our customers. By automatically adding a wealth of new, actionable metadata describing content within each image, Nuxeo enables a whole new level of image-based enterprise search, workflows and automation.”
The Nuxeo plugin, named Nuxeo Vision, has been developed to immediately support the Google Cloud Vision service, as well as other image recognition engines in the future.
The Google Cloud Vision API enables developers to understand the content of an image by encapsulating powerful machine learning models in a REST API.
