GPS World

Tag: imagery

  • Cambridge Consultants Introduces Tractor Collision Avoidance Technology

    Cambridge Consultants introduces radar-based technology detection system to help agricultural vehicles avoid collisions. The new radar system helps prevent this by protecting the perimeters of the vehicle from potential hazards – giving audible and visual warnings to the driver.

    CambridgeConsultants1

    “We have identified a huge demand for this type of agricultural technology as we see a continued increase in advanced farming techniques in the face of impending population growth and food shortages,” said Gary Kemp, programme director at Cambridge Consultants. “We’ve created practical technology that’s simple to operate and install but is also low cost and incredibly effective.”

    According to the announcement, the radar units are designed to be installed on the front and rear of a vehicle as well as on the boom ends, and can detect multiple collision hazards in a wide field of view which maximises coverage. The technology can process many different moving and stationary obstacles – and instantly send an alert to the driver to warn of a potential collision. The low-frequency (5.8GHz) system is based on standard manufacturing principles, making it a cost-effective solution. The patented short-range radar technology provides unbeatable performance from a compact, low-cost sensor. The sensor simultaneously tracks multiple objects in 3D over a wide field of view and up to 30m range. Real-time collision prediction algorithm identifies hazards early, giving the driver ample time to take avoiding action

    The company will be showcasing its latest farming technology at the Agritechnica International Exhibition, November 12-15, in Hanover, Germany, hall 17, stand C38.

  • Tuck Mapping Integrates Leica RCD30 Camera with Applanix POSTrack

    Bell-LongRanger-O

    Leica Geosystems Inc. today announced that Tuck Mapping Solutions Inc. has completed the first integration of a Leica RCD30 airborne camera with the Applanix POSTrack system. With technical support from Leica Geosystems and Applanix, Tuck Mapping contracted Lead’Air Inc. of Kissimmee, Florida, to perform most of the software upgrades and new cabling required to integrate the Leica digital camera with the POSTrack all-in-one GNSS-aided inertial direct georeferencing and flight management system.

    The Leica RCD30 is a true metric camera built for mapping. Introduced by Leica Geosystems as a digital follow-on to its RC30 film cameras, the RCD30 is a medium-format digital imaging system developed for a variety of photogrammetric and remote sensing applications. The 60 MP single-camera-head design delivers co-registered, multispectral imagery in the Red, Green, Blue and Near IR portions of the spectrum. The sleek modular design allows the camera to fit easily in aircraft previously outfitted with film cameras, and the RCD30 integrates with many LiDAR sensors, including the Leica ALS series.

    For the many current owners of the POSTrack system, the availability of integration by Lead’Air makes the Leica RCD30 a more affordable and attractive choice among medium-format digital cameras. When buying a new Leica RCD30, POSTrack owners do not have to purchase the Leica flight management system, train flight crews in the use of multiple interfaces, and install redundant equipment in their aircraft.

    “The integrated systems enable our flight crews to operate the Leica RCD30 and a third-party LiDAR sensor with a single flight management interface,” said Tuck Mapping President, Bobby Tuck. “In addition, POSTrack collects the GNSS location and Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) attitude data needed to georeference the imagery and LiDAR data sets.”

    Based in Big Stone Gap, Virginia, Tuck Mapping is a photogrammetric services and aerial mapping firm with a reputation for engineering innovative solutions related to geospatial data collection. Tuck was among the first aerial mappers to use a helicopter for LiDAR scanning operations, and more than a decade ago the firm took the lead in successfully integrating an airborne camera and LiDAR sensor for simultaneous collection. Tuck Mapping owns four POSTrack systems, three helicopters, two fixed-wing airplanes, and state-of-the-art airborne cameras and laser scanners.

    “Bobby Tuck deserves credit for driving the integration of the Leica RCD30 with the POSTrack system,” said Jean Gardiner, General Manager of Leica Geospatial Solutions. “From a business perspective, Leica believes that supporting the compatibility of our products with other manufacturers’ products is an integral part of providing solutions to our clients.”

    “This joint integration project exemplifies the maturity of Leica and Applanix,” said Joe Hutton, Applanix Director of Inertial Technology and Airborne Products. “It’s a natural progression of good customer support.”

    Jointly developed by Applanix and Track’Air, the POSTrack product integrates the Applanix POS AV direct georeferencing technology, utilizing GNSS and IMU components, with the XTRACK Flight Management System software from Track’Air into a single, compact package. POSTrack provides direct georeferencing for airborne mapping sensors, mission planning, real-time sensor control and pilot guidance.

    Lead’Air, a subsidiary of Track’Air, specializes in integrating the Track’Air flight management systems with any airborne camera or LiDAR sensor. Now that the first Leica RCD30/POSTrack integration has been completed for Tuck Mapping, Lead’Air offers this integration as a commercially available service.

  • Trimble Introduces Integrated Camera Roving System for High-Accuracy Positioning from Digital Images

    Trimble has introduced the Trimble V10 Imaging Rover, an integrated camera system that precisely captures 360 degree digital panoramic images for visual documentation and measurement. The Trimble V10 Imaging Rover enables professionals in a broad range of industries—including survey, GIS, engineering, and oil & gas—to quickly capture rich, complete data of their surrounding environment. In the office, users can take measurements and create comprehensive deliverables using Trimble Business Center office software.

    According to the announcement, the Trimble V10 with Trimble VISION technology, leverages calibrated imaging sensors allowing digital images to be captured directly from the range pole. Twelve calibrated cameras—seven panoramic and five downward-looking—integrated in the Trimble V10 provide complete site visualization and documentation with a 60 MP panoramic image that can be used to make photogrammetric measurements.

    Easy to use with one button operation, the Trimble V10 enables geospatial professionals to perform work where there are many features to collect or where features are complex or difficult to capture, such as oil and gas industrial facilities, and capture increased amounts of data in less time. Trimble Access field software running on the Trimble Tablet Rugged PC offers a simple and intuitive process to capture and review images and store observations.

    The solution works standalone or can be seamlessly integrated with the Trimble R10 GNSS receiver and Trimble S-series total stations such as the VX, S8 and S6 so that panoramic images can easily be captured along with high-accuracy positions for an accurate geospatial dataset. Combined with the Trimble Tablet and Trimble Access field software, the Trimble V10 collects visual documentation of the jobsite with corresponding positioning information for subsequent office measurement.

    To quickly generate traditional and innovative deliverables, Trimble Business Center provides intuitive close-range photogrammetry tools to efficiently extract survey grade measurements from the Trimble V10 images. The rich image data can also be later mined to satisfy new customer requests, saving time and reducing the need for revisits to the job site.

    “The Trimble V10 Imaging Rover ushers in a new era for geospatial data capture—positions from pictures,” said Phil Sawarynski, business area director of Imaging Solutions for Trimble’s Geospatial Division. “The capability to easily integrate panoramic images into traditional datasets and take measurements from those images sets a new standard for positioning applications.”

  • Trimble Launches New Geospatial Solutions for Aerial Imaging

    Trimble announced today new additions to its aerial imaging portfolio — the Trimble AX60, a new airborne LIDAR system; and an updated version of its Inpho processing software.

    The announcement was made today at Intergeo 2013, being held this week in Essen, Germany.

    The Trimble AX60.
    The Trimble AX60.

    The Trimble AX60 is a versatile system that can be operated at up to 15,500 feet above ground level (AGL), which meets the requirements for aerial survey projects such as wide area mapping, corridor mapping and remote sensing. Together with integrated flight planning and analysis software tools, the platform has been specifically designed as end-to-end solution that provides enhanced mission flexibility, rapid and efficient point cloud capture, excellent resolution, in-service reliability and high-productivity workflows. The Trimble AX60 can be installed on either fixed wing or rotary aircraft.

    The AX60 has a 400-kHz laser pulse repetition rate (PRR) with a single channel downward-looking laser. An optional, fully calibrated 80-megapixel camera with forward motion compensation can be added. The camera is integrated into the sensor head package and harmonized with the laser system so that it does not need re-calibration each time the solution is fitted to an aircraft. Another key feature is Trimble’s rotating polygon mirror technology for beam deflection that can allow survey missions to be completed faster. This technology provides higher accuracy and a uniform distribution of laser points across the entire field-of-view to widen the usable swath width. Operators can reduce track overlap or duplication, or fly at higher altitudes to achieve a given resolution. Together with a high precision positioning system, integral power supplies, and an in-flight monitoring tool, the Trimble AX60 can allow operators to lower the complexity of airborne LIDAR surveys while increasing the quality of the output.

    “The performance, operational flexibility and reliability of the Trimble AX60 make it an ideal solution for aerial survey companies,” said Phil Sawarynski, business area director of Imaging Solutions for Trimble’s Geospatial Division. “In addition, the Trimble AX60 has been designed as a true end-to-end solution, which includes field-proven Trimble flight planning software and Trimble Inpho analysis software. Since the hardware and software are all supplied by Trimble, operators can have confidence that the complete solution works together seamlessly, and that the flight planning and post-mission analysis suites can enable them to provide a high quality service to their customers.”

    In conjunction with the new airborne laser scanner launch, Trimble also announced its Inpho version 5.6 processing software suite. Version 5.6 now includes the UASMaster module, which has been designed for the complete processing of data acquired by remote piloted aircraft systems (RPAS/UAS). The module georeferences RPAS/UAS images and generates point clouds and othophoto mosaics that allow users to create high quality deliverables for CAD and GIS applications. The UASMaster module is fully compatible with Inpho photogrammetric software modules.

    The Trimble AX60 solution is expected to be available in the first quarter of 2014 through Trimble’s Geospatial Division distribution network. The Inpho version 5.6 and UASMaster is expected to be available in the fourth quarter of 2013.

  • iPhone App Lets Users See Imaging Satellites

    Orbit Logic announced that their SpyMeSat iPhone app is now available on the Apple App Store. The SpyMeSat app provides notifications when imaging satellites are overhead and may be taking your picture. A dynamic map shows orbit tracks and the location of satellites with upcoming passes over the user-specified location.

    SpyMeSat iPhone App
    SpyMeSat iPhone App

    According to the announcement, this is Orbit Logic’s first app targeted for consumers outside their standard customer base in the aerospace, defense, and government intelligence communities.

    “This app is for everyone.” said Alex Herz, president of Orbit Logic. “Whenever I talk to people outside the aerospace industry about what I do they have so many questions. I realized there was a place for an app to provide information, education and awareness about imaging satellites to a wider audience. And it’s fun for aerospace industry insiders too!”

    The SpyMeSat app uses NORAD orbit data published online by www.celestrak.com and available public information about commercial and international imaging satellites to compute and dynamically display satellite overflights and imaging pass information. The app user can drill down to see additional details about each imaging opportunity, and the app provides a page describing each satellite for those who want to learn more.

    SpyMeSat users can configure the app to enable or disable individual satellites, change the location of interest, enable or disable various notification options, and specify the resolution limit for computed passes. Orbit Logic can create custom SpyMeSat solutions for any constellation of satellites. With a custom SpyMeSat solution, authorized users can make satellite tasking requests directly from the mobile device.

  • ikeGPS Announces Kickstarter Fundraising for Smartphone Laser Measurement and Augmented Reality Accessory

    ikeGPS announced a Kickstarter fundraising effort for a smartphone laser measurement and augmented reality accessory named Spike.

    According to the announcement, with Spike you can measure, map, 3D model (and share) any object up to 600 feet away by taking a snapshot on your smartphone.

    3d measurement and AR

    The company reports that Spike’s precision enables the development of immersive laser-based smartphone apps, delivering deeply textured 3D modeling and location experiences. Its laser accuracy makes Augmented Reality (AR) experiences real. Not just because Spike enables AR apps to be incredibly precise and relevant to a user for the very first time, but also because it empowers anyone to develop and experience them on their smartphone.

    measure and share

    The fully specified API will enable software engineers to develop immersive AR applications. By embedding specialist ikeTools into the application, or building an application over the data stream from the calibrated laser camera, Spike will give applications long range accuracy and depth perception.

    According to Spike’s Kickstarter webpage, the project will be funded if $100,000 is reached by October 29, 2013. As of October 2, 2013, funding was at $74,282

  • Landsat Images Show Devastation Caused by Colorado Floods

    NASA’s Earth Observatory released images illustrating the September floods in Colorado. Though water levels on the South Platte River were receding, muddy brown waters were still out of the river’s banks near Greeley, Colorado, on September 17, 2013, when the Operational Land Imager (OLI) on the Landsat 8 satellite acquired this image. At the time, the river was more than six feet above flood stage, down from more than eight feet above flood stage.

    The image shows that the flood has washed away roads, including sections of U.S. Highway 34. Farmland and a few developed areas are under water. Heavy rain caused flooding across the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains starting on September 11, and much of that water made its way into the South Platte River. The river reached a record 18.79 feet in the early morning hours of September 14. The previous record crest was 11.73 feet. Flood stage is 10 feet. As the water subsides in Colorado, it is expected to swell the river downstream in Nebraska.

    Image acquired June 29, 2013
    Image acquired by NASA June 29, 2013
    Image acquired September 17, 2013
    Image acquired by NASA September 17, 2013

    According to the announcement, as of September 18, floods had affected 17 counties in Colorado, leaving six people dead, 306 missing, and more than 18,000 evacuated, according to the Colorado Office of Emergency Management. Early estimates place the cost of the floods at two billion dollars. Though destructive and costly, all of the excess water may help parts of Colorado recover from drought. The rain helped refill some depleted reservoirs and recharge dry soil. However, it also damaged irrigation infrastructure, so the impact on farmers is mixed.

  • Global Mapper V15 Released with Extension Interface and Powerful New LiDAR Tools

    Blue Marble Geographics announces the release of Global Mapper version 15. This major release includes many powerful updates along with a new extension interface that provides add-on functionality capabilities including the COAST tool and a new LiDAR Module. Blue Marble’s geospatial data manipulation, visualization and conversion solutions are used worldwide by thousands of GIS analysts at software, oil and gas, mining, civil engineering, surveying, and technology companies, as well as governmental and university organizations.

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    According to the announcement, the new extension interface in Global Mapper 15 allows third parties and customers the opportunity to create add-on applications that can be part of the software with access to all the formats and tools that Global Mapper has to offer. As part of this release, Blue Marble has created three modules; The COAST tool for cost/benefit analysis of coastal flooding incidents, an Overview Map Window application, and a new powerful LiDAR module. The LiDAR module is available for the price of another seat of the software, while COAST and the Overview Application are free. Other new extension modules from key partners are expected over the next year.

    This release also features a new Mathematical Raster Calculator for multi-band imagery analysis, the ability to edit and re-calculate multiple view shed layers, 3D PDF read/write support, scripting enhancements, such as passing variables to the script from the command line, and much more. The LiDAR Module is a powerful toolbar that has totally new functionality on par with software that is many thousands of dollars more expensive. Leveraged through a toolbar for easier management and editing capabilities, the module features the ability to view, edit and reclassify points in the Path Profile viewer, robust gridding techniques for faster, extremely flexible creation of elevation surfaces, including smart decimation through binning, and other techniques. The tool also allows for automatic classification of ground points from unclassified point clouds, and support for reporting LiDAR statistics via script to a text file to facilitate QA processes and new format support for E57 LiDAR.

    “Global Mapper is TRULY the GIS tool for everyone and that includes the basic user who simply needs to view data or output it to Google Earth, as well as the highly trained GIS or Survey professional working with LiDAR point clouds of a billion points or more,” stated Blue Marble’s President Patrick Cunningham “We are committed to adding the most advanced functionality at a price point that is within reach of everyone and we have again done so with this release.”

  • Esri Releases Interactive Colorado Flooding Impact Map

    Esri released an interactive flood impact map of Colorado. Flash floods in Colorado have caused massive damage throughout the state since they began on the evening of September 11, 2013.

    ColoradoFlooding

    Chart: Esri

    Click here for full-screen interactive map

    Boulder Area
    Since September 9th, the Colorado Front Range has received a large amount of rainfall. The top 50 citizen observations are shown on the map.

    FEMA shelters have been established to help residents that have been impacted by heavy flooding. Click on boundaries to see population statistics for that area. Residents in Lyons were evacuated and the community was virtually cut off by damage to roads in and out of the city.

    Denver Area
    In the Denver area, many localities were impacted by evacuations and disruptions to the drinking water supply. Interstate 25 was closed in both directions up to Wyoming and dams in the area were breached, including one at the Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge near Commerce City.

    Colorado Springs Area
    Heavy rains west of Colorado Springs resulted in flash flooding on Thursday night (09/12/13). Fountain Creek, which runs through the city, surged to a flood stage and resulted in life-threatening conditions in Downtown Colorado Springs. Highway 24 was closed due to the impact of the 2012 Waldo Canyon Fire scar.

    Fort Collins Area
    Rivers and streams surrounding Fort Collins and Longmont have witnessed some of the worst flooding in the state, especially towns along the Big Thompson Canyon. Towns in Weld County, including parts of Johnstown and Milliken, were completely water-locked. Numerous FEMA shelters have been established in the area to help residents that have been affected.

     

  • Astrium to Provide Satellite Imagery for Google Maps and Google Earth

    Astrium announced that it has entered into an agreement with Google Inc. to provide satellite imagery in support of Google Maps, Google Earth and other Google products and services. Under this agreement, Astrium Services will provide newly acquired imagery from its Pléiades and SPOT satellites.

    According to the announcement, Pléiades 1A and 1B are Europe’s first very high-resolution Earth-observation satellites, offering exceptional performance to support both commercial and government markets with 50cm resolution imagery products. The SPOT 6 and SPOT 7 constellation, operated in conjunction with Pléiades, offers 1.5m resolution imagery products and is uniquely capable of mapping continent-wide areas.

    Astrium reports that their four-satellite constellation makes Astrium Services the first satellite operator in the world to offer a complete range of Earth-observation data at different resolutions (from medium to very high-resolution), an image collection capacity of up to 6.5 million square kilometers each day and the ability to image every point of the globe on a daily basis.

  • USGS Releases Updated U.S. Topo Maps of Alaska

    AK_Fairbanks

    The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) announced that more than 400 new topographic maps are now available for the state of Alaska. The new maps are part of the U.S. Geological Survey Alaska Mapping Initiative, to update foundational data for the state and to replace the existing maps that are about 50 years old.

    “These new digital maps of Alaska are elevating our visual record of the surface of the state to 21st century levels,” said Anne Castle, Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Water and Science.  “The associatedadvances in human safety, navigation, and natural resource management cannot be overestimated. The productive partnership between the State government and the USGS is facilitating acquisition of the necessary data to complete digital mapping of Alaska, which is a critical chapter in the history of our geographical knowledge of the North American continent.”

    The first 400-plus new US Topo maps for Alaska are now accessible and are the beginning of a multi-year project, ultimately leading to more than 11,000 new maps for the entire state. The goal of the AMI is the production of a complete series of digital topographical maps at a scale of 1:25,000 to replace the 1:63,360-scale maps produced about 50 years ago. The maps will be published in digital PDF format (GeoPDF) and are available for free download and manipulation on a computer.

    These new maps include several layers, with an option for the user to turn them on or off. Major updated features include:

    • Satellite image layers which allows a recent view of the earth’s surface.
    • Contours and shaded relief layers showing the lay of the land derived from newly acquired 5-meter radar elevation data.
    • Surface water features from the USGS National Hydrography Dataset, which are updated by local stewards and USGS.
    • Glaciers updated using Randolph Glacier Inventory data.
    • Boundaries integrated from multiple sources, including Census and major Federal landholders.
    • The Public Land Survey System layer from the Bureau of Land Management.
    • Roads from a commercial vendor under a USGS contract.
    • Railroads and the Trans-Alaska oil pipeline data from local sources.
    • Important buildings including police stations, schools, and hospitals.
    • Airports, heliports and seaplane landing strips compiled by USGS from multiple sources.
    • Feature names from the USGS-maintained Geographic Names Information System.

    To ensure that the maps meet current accuracy specifications and standards, the maps will be made using newly acquired elevation and imagery data from multiple state, federal and commercial sources. The map-making process will be largely automated using software specially adapted by the USGS to create approximately 11,275 digital map quadrangles, covering the entire area of the state.

    Mapping in Alaska did not keep pace with records for the rest of the nation as a result of difficult terrain, remote locations, and vast distances. Modern mapping information does not exist over the majority of land in the state. Prior to this effort, topographical maps for much of Alaska were about 50 years out of date and not produced to current standards, which rely largely on high resolution digital imagery and elevation data. As a consequence, essential public services have suffered, among them transportation planning and safety, urban and regional planning, economic development, natural resource management, conservation and scientific research.

    This new generation of digital topographic maps will continue the rich and valuable USGS cartographic history, and serve the Nation by providing reliable scientific information to describe and understand the Earth; minimize loss of life and property from natural disasters; manage water, biological, energy, and mineral resources; and enhance and protect quality of life.

    For more information and download, go to: http://nationalmap.gov/alaska/

  • Agency9 Releases 3D Models and 3D Cities for City Planners

    Aency9-Acute3D
    Aerial imagery Courtesy of InterAtlas

    Agency9, a provider of web-based 3D visualization solutions, announces support for 3D models and cities generated with Smart3DCapture from Acute3D. Municipalities, authorities, and private organizations can now use the photo-realistic 3D models in Agency9 CityPlanner to easily create web applications for planning, GIS, tourism and security, Agency9 said.

    According to the announcement, Acute3D’s Smart3DCapture is a software solution enabling data providers and distributors to easily produce true-3D models of cities from aerial and terrestrial imagery, without any human intervention. Agency9 has streamlined a process to support large-scale 3D models from Acute3D Smart3DCapture for web deployment. CityPlanner users can easily edit the Smart3DCapture data, such as demolish buildings, modify terrain, export exerts of data, as well as upload vector data, images, 3D models in order to create stunning interactive illustrations for public consultation or exhibition phases in planning or tourist oriented applications.

    “Agency9 has a vision to web enable any type of 3D terrain and city models in value adding applications. Agency9 is thrilled by the partnership with Acute3D and the potential it creates. Photorealistic 3D models are requested in many applications and Smart3DCapture is definitely one of the sharpest on the market. With CityPlannerOnline Agency9 uniquely offer data providers and users to publish Acute3D data online at a cost starting as low as 5,000 EUR per year without need to invest in IT infrastructure,” said Håkan Engman, CEO at Agency9.

    “The interoperability of our Smart3DCapture solutions is a very important topic at Acute3D, and the partnership with Agency9 opens exciting perspectives in the diffusion of large 3D models through online applications,” said Jean-Philippe Pons, CEO at Acute3D.

    Agency9 CityPlanner is a web-based service for 3D visualization of projects within urban development, infrastructure and energy. CityPlanner provides 3D web planning tools for widespread access and collaboration. It is created for urban planners, communicators, consultants and GIS technicians to easily create, share and publish project and spatial information from a normal web browser. CityPlanner is used by municipalities internationally in their daily work with master and local planning, also involving stakeholders and citizens in the planning process by enabling web publishing of 3D plan visualizations.