The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Roorkee is offering a free online course on GNSS and Applications on the NPTEL platform. The four-week course will provide a basic understanding about digital elevation models (DEMs) and their applications in civil engineering and Earth sciences.
During the course, various DEMs and their sources, generation techniques, derivatives, errors and limitations will be discussed extensively. Surface hydrologic modeling using DEMs, modeling derivatives and their applications will also be discussed.
Intended audience. Under- and post-graduate engineering and post-graduate science students and faculty.
Pre-requisites. Current students of engineering, post-graduate science students and Ph.D. students should have basic knowledge of geographic information systems (GIS) and remote sensing.
Industry support. Geoinformatics companies (such as NIIT, Esri India, Leica Geoinformatics, MapmyIndia, ISRO and more).
The course will be taught by Arun K. Saraf, professor in the Department of Earth Sciences at IIT Roorkee. He teaches courses on remote sensing, digital image processing, GIS, advanced GIS, geomorphology and related topics to undergraduate and postgraduate students of Geological Technology and Applied Geology. He has a Ph.D. in remote sensing from the University of Dundee, United Kingdom.
The course takes place July 26-August 20. Registration is open until August 2 and can be done through the SWAYAM platform.
In recent years, sinkholes have been occurring around the world. A new service offers a sinkhole detection prediction tool using satellite imagery analysis.
Synspective Inc., a satellite data and analytic solution provider, has released a sinkhole detection feature that predicts ground sinking area.
Sinkholes are often caused by human activities (underground tunneling, oil/gas pumping, underground coal drilling, groundwater pumping, etc.). When these sinkholes occur in residential areas, they can cause significant damage to buildings and sometimes even loss of life.
The sinkhole detection function developed by Synspective is a unique prediction algorithm that uses data science and machine learning to combine and detect the characteristics of spatial and temporal variations. With this technology, it is possible to identify areas where sinkholes are likely to occur in advance, areas where cave-ins have occurred, and areas where cave-ins are in progress after they have occurred.
This function will be implemented in Land Displacement Monitoring, a solution service announced in 2020 that analyzes ground deformation over a wide area using satellite data. The input data is automatically updated, and the platform handles the processing and analysis of the complex satellite imagery. Since it can be viewed in a web environment, it can be checked at any time from the office as well as from the field.
This new service’s expected use is multifaceted — it can be applied in many land risk-management projects such as construction projects, airport maintenance projects, and subway development projects, among others.
In addition, remote area/site surveying can be extremely relevant in disaster struck areas where human access is restricted or dangerous, or where social movement is restricted due to the COVID-19 virus impact.
The physical and digital world are integrating. We are nearing the edge of the analog universe. Physical immersion is giving way to virtual immersion. It is the virtualization of products and services in the evolution of technology. Michael Saylor calls it the sixth wave of software engineering. We are moving away from externally experiencing data and are moving towards actively interfacing with data directly in virtual space.
“You can Zoom anywhere at the speed of light and bend time and space.” — Michael Saylor
The world of tomorrow is already here. We are waking up to it. The blips of information at the fringes are coming nearer. The horizons of time are as far as one can see into the future and the past. How far can you see? From wherever you are there are others who can see a little further. Look forward. Look back. Others are ahead and behind. They exist where time is most comfortable for them. Some take up positions living in the past. Some stake their place as far into the future as they are able. Look towards those early adopters. Ask them what they think. They see more clearly the blips of information out on the horizon.
What are those blips? How will they impact the geospatial community? How can you position yourself to take advantage of the coming trends?
America needs to go back to work and America’s infrastructure is old and in disrepair. In 2019, Congress introduced H.R.4687, the SMART Infrastructure Act, a $2 trillion bill but it never made it out of the House. However, that bill is being reintroduced. This time it will become a bill putting America back to work and its price tag will likely eclipse the previous bill. It will address infrastructure — all types of infrastructure: physical, data, cybersecurity, health, financial, transportation, energy, and communications. It will be a primary theme for the next two decades. Get ready! Change can happen fast and it’s about to accelerate.
“The future happens slowly and then all at once.” — Kevin Kelly
Rebuilding this infrastructure will require geospatial technologies. STEM has been the siren call for the past 30 years and for good reason. Those who heeded the call and invested their education into coding, engineering, data science, geospatial technologies, mathematics, artificial intelligence, and other STEM related fields are going to lead the coming workforce. Now is the time to get certified and establish your credentials.
Take the case of architectural design and construction. It used to be blueprints drawn on light tables. That is how I learned to do it back in the 1970s. Then it all moved to computer aided design (CAD) drawings. Now, urban planners and architects create immersive 3D virtual reality (VR) visualizations. That is becoming standard practice.
Project managers used to spend their day making their rounds walking the site ensuring the project was being built to specifications. However, that is changing. Soon, each worker’s safety glasses will have built-in augmented reality (AR). They will build their portion of a project exactly to plan. Project managers will connect with workers in the field and see the project they are working on progress in real-time while in their office on 3D models.
When the project manager does walk the site he or she will be wearing augmented reality (AR) head-up displays and able to compare the physical construction to the digital model in real-time. Backhoe and excavator operators will grade to exact precision. Robots will be common at construction sites assisting operations and enhancing current capabilities. Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) will fly regular patterns over construction sites. Heavy-lift UAVs will supplement cranes for some operations. Subsurface structures, whether buried beneath the ground or behind a wall will be digitized with precise location data making future replacements and repairs swift and easy. The uses of geospatially dependent technologies will continue to grow. The construction worker of tomorrow will be very different than the one of today.
Photo: Trimble
The new infrastructure will be built with smart technologies and incorporate renewables and “green energy” initiatives with a responsible approach to sustainability; for example, roadways will have embedded peizo-electric crystals in the asphalt to generate electricity from passing vehicles. The electricity will charge batteries that will power smart sensors embedded in the street and provide power to street lights with sensors and 5G networks along the roadways. Excess power will transfer to other microgrids for use elsewhere. Energy will also come from capturing wind on top and along the sides of buildings, along roadways, and at tunnel exits and entrances. Thermocouples will capture heat and generate electricity.
Solar power will be generated from panels, windows, films, and even paint surfaces. All of these sources together will feed into microgrids. Some of this renewable energy will convert water to hydrogen for fuel cells, and some will power carbon dioxide (CO2) converters to extract CO2 from the atmosphere and create synthetic fuels. In 2010, Sunexus submitted a geospatial study of the solar reforming process to the Office of Scientific & Technical Information (OSTI). The study showed that nearly 58% of industrial CO2 waste from power plants, cement plants, ethanol production, and natural gas processing could be converted to synthetic diesel fuel.
Image: U.S. Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy
Besides energy, other smart materials will be used such as small sensors that are geospatially sensitive nanodevices embedded in roads, bridges, tunnels, buildings and other structures. They are wirelessly connected to one another creating a 3D mesh network. These nanodevices continuously report their structural health. This 3D mesh network can detect vibrations passing through it that cause distortions in the mesh framework.
Geospatial artificial intelligence (GeoAI) will profile devices based on their normal statistical ranges. If any data such as location, temperature, humidity, pressure, acoustics or health status exceed the device’s standard deviation the GeoAI will analyze surrounding nodes in the mesh network to depict patterns. Suspect events will immediately come to the attention of emergency services. These microdevices can provide early detection of cracks in a structure or deterioration of a surface protection layer.
The use of these devices extends beyond structural monitoring. More broadly, they have societal applications too, such as for security purposes. When fitted with acoustic sensors they can detect sounds, and by geospatially analyzing the data from many thousands of devices the epic center of a noise event can immediately be located. Take for example a gun shot, fireworks, an explosion, or a vehicle accident. The increased acoustic signal would trigger the GeoAI monitoring the devices to plot a spatial analysis of the acoustic report. The map would alert area would flash red on the monitor at the control center and nearby cameras would zoom in on the location providing images and live video feeds all within moments of the triggering event. The analysts at the control center could immediately assess the situation and dispatch the proper response units.
Embedded devices also serve as seismic sensors blanketing broad areas and are able to record surface vibrations moving through the mesh network. An earthquake would appear as a moving wave field along the network.
Additionally, data from the mesh network can integrate with other devices. It can provide smartphones with precise location data. Imagine no longer standing on a street corner turning in circles trying to figure out which way to go. When connected with the mesh network and looking through AR glasses or the smartphone view screen the path will be illuminated. Autonomous vehicles will connect with the mesh network and have absolute positional accuracy and have awareness of other vehicles, bikes, and pedestrians ensuring a more safe and efficient experience for everyone.
The mesh network can be used as a base layer for georeferencing the world. Notifications, warnings and requests for information can be sent to smartphones within an exact georeferenced location. Imagine being in your third-floor apartment sitting in your chair, listening to music on your headphones and reading an ebook. You are oblivious to the noise outside. An audible alert is sent to your phone and calls your attention. You look at your phone and a message is requesting information related to a possible gunshot at DD°MM’SS.sss N, DD°MM’SS.sss W. You click on the notification and a map opens up. You see it is right outside your window. You go to the window, look outside and see two people duck into a car. You watch as red tail lights drive away. You look back at the location on the street where the vehicle had been and a person is slumped over leaning against a stairwell.
On your phone you press the red alert button on the map application triggering a distress signal and confirming the incident may have been a gunshot and someone has possibly been injured. Emergency services immediately dispatch. Others nearby received the same alert message because it was automatically generated and sent out to all phone numbers within the area defined by the geospatial acoustic solution. Surveillance cameras on the corner of buildings were also triggered by the alert and automatically focused on the origin of the noise. Images of the assailants were captured along with the license plate of the vehicle. As the vehicle drove away a network of surveillance cameras continued following it turn by turn until it was finally intercepted and the occupants apprehended.
This world is nearer than it seems. The technologies are already here. Once the infrastructure bill is passed construction projects will begin and our physical world will begin to integrate with the digital world. The engineers design it. The construction workers and robots will build it. And it will be geospatial technologies holding it all together.
William Tewelow works for the Federal Aviation Administration. He is a graduate of the FAA management fellowship program. He served on special assignment to the U.S. Department of Transportation leading a national strategic geospatial initiative for the White House Open Data Partnership. He is a Geographic Information Systems Professional (GISP) and a speaker for the Maryland STEMnet Scholar program. He was among the first in the nation to earn a Geospatial Specialist Certification from the U.S. Department of Labor while working at NASA Stennis Space Center. He has degrees in Geographic Information Technology, Intelligence Studies, and is completing a masters degree in Organizational Management. William is a 23 year veteran for the U.S. Navy serving as a Geospatial Specialist, Imagery Intelligence Specialist, a Naval Aviator, a Meteorologist, and a Tactical Oceanographer. He is married, enjoys writing and traveling. His favorite quote is, “A man’s mind changed by a new idea can never go back to its original dimension.” — Oliver Wendell Holmes
Free-to-use maps from more than 40 European countries will be made available through a new online gateway.
Open Maps for Europe will signpost and provide easy access to pan-European open data created using official map, geospatial and land information.
The project, which is co-financed by the Connecting Europe Facility of the European Union, is coordinated by EuroGeographics, the voice of European National Mapping, Cadastral and Land Registration Authorities, in partnership with the National Geographic Institute (NGI) Belgium.
Users will be able to access the data, created by the not-for-profit membership association, through an online interface developed by thinkWhere. The specialist in open source geographic information system (GIS) technologies will deliver the enhanced gateway for discovering, viewing, licensing and downloading the open datasets after winning an open tender.
The open data will include topographic data, a digital elevation model, imagery, a cadastral index map, and a regional gazetteer. The first maps are expected to be available in summer 2021.
“As the official national sources of map, cadastral and land information, our members’ data is fundamental to the everyday lives of people across Europe,”said Angela Baker, program manager, Data Access and Integration, EuroGeographics. “We may not always realise it, but their authoritative information underpins our public services, provides certainty of property ownership and helps to save precious time and potentially save lives when responding to emergencies. In an ever-connected world, it is also increasingly used in a wide range of applications relied upon by both citizens and businesses.”
“The Open Data Directive recognises that the value of data lies in its use and re-use. By providing easy access to free to use harmonised maps for Europe, our members want to boost the development of these innovative services. Their aim is to encourage greater use of their official geospatial data to drive market development and economic growth, and increase competitiveness by reducing costs.
“By working to ensure their data is interoperable, readily available and easily accessible, they are demonstrating a commitment to delivering Open Maps for Europe both now and in the future.”
Alan Moore, Chief Executive, thinkWhere added: “We are delighted to be working with EuroGeographics and its members on the Open Maps for Europe project where the primary aim is to drive up the use of official geospatial and open data.”
“Our mission is to make geographic data highly accessible, easy to use and an essential part of your information architecture. Collaborating with EuroGeographics and its members we will harness the power of our cloud-based geospatial data infrastructure and drive the development of a user-centric portal that makes it easy to find, view, publish and share the rich suite of pan European digital mapping, cadastral and topographic datasets.”
Open Maps for Europe runs until Dec. 31, 2022.
EuroGeographics is an international not-for-profit organization and the membership association for the European National Mapping, Cadastral and Land Registry Authorities. It brings together members from 46 countries, covering the whole of geographical Europe.
Release follows $1 billion Innovyze acquisition announcement by Autodesk
Water infrastructure software company Innovyze has released Info360.com, a cloud-based, artificial intelligence-powered platform for real-world water lifecycle management.
Combined with Info360 Insight, a data visualization and workflow solution, the platform enables dynamic digital twins for the water industry.
Dynamic Digital Twins are virtual models of real-world assets and systems that can learn and adapt to changing circumstances. Built upon Amazon Web Services (AWS), Info360.com is uniquely designed to support Dynamic Digital Twins by gathering and unifying asset information, connecting live and historic performance data to Innovyze as well as third-party applications.
Autodesk Inc. announced March 1 it signed a definitive agreement to acquire Portland, Oregon-based Innovyze for $1 billion net of cash subject to working capital and tax closing adjustments. Autodesk’s digital-twin strategy creates a clearer path to a more sustainable and digitized water industry, the company said.
This context-aware platform can predict future performance using synchronized computational models that become more intelligent as they’re used. Info360.com provides recommended best-case actions that can help water utilities maintain the highest levels of service, capacity and efficiency.
Due to water system complexity and static operating budgets, many water utilities have struggled to adopt the digital transformation technologies that would allow them to improve predictability and performance. Using the power of the cloud, Info360.com is financially and operationally more accessible, powerful and flexible than traditional on-premise systems.
“The complex, physical properties of water and massive, underground infrastructure that must be monitored and managed make digitization extremely challenging for water utilities,” said Colby Manwaring, Chief Executive Officer at Innovyze. “We’ve combined 35 years of expertise in water management with the power of the cloud to bridge the data and technology gaps that have kept water utilities from truly capitalizing on Digital Twins with our new Info360.com platform. This is a game-changer in making digital transformation achievable for water utilities of any size.”
The new Info360 Insight SaaS application provides utilities with customizable dashboards and KPIs that track and visualize the real-time performance of the entire water distribution system. Performance data can be used and analyzed for daily operations, such as pipe break detection and water loss. The same data can also be used to plan for future maintenance and capacity fluctuations, with seamless integration into the hydraulic model.
“Info360 Insight is the first of several SaaS applications we’re delivering for the Info360.com platform, all offering advantages to utilities like easy onboarding, infinite scalability, and rigorous security out of the box,” said Rick Gruenhagen, CTO at Innovyze. “Better yet, the Info360 platform architecture incorporates cutting-edge technologies like predictive analytics and artificial intelligence tuned specifically for the water lifecycle, allowing utilities of all sizes to stay at the forefront of innovation without the need to maintain complex software or hire hordes of IT experts. As a result, utilities will have the technology foundation they need to deliver the highest possible service at the lowest possible cost.”
Info360 Insight provides real-time ingestion and analysis of SCADA data, along with 24/7 event monitoring, enabling utilities to detect incidents within their infrastructure. The system can check multiple resolution scenarios and apply recommended actions to resolve the failure as quickly as possible — ensuring a higher level of service and reliability.
Auterion, an open-source drone software platform provider, has partnered with C2 Group — a program, project and construction management firm — to power the use of drones for inspection, mapping and disaster response across the utilities and critical infrastructure industries.
The collaboration has been formed after C2 Group conducted extensive testing of the Vantage Robotics Vesper drone powered by Auterion to inspect power lines at its UAS testing ground and assess viability within the utilities space.
Auterion and C2 Group have seen a shift in the utility industry to move away from drones manufactured overseas to focus on the adoption of U.S.-made products such as the Vesper, a Blue sUAS-certified product used by the U.S. military.
Features on the Vesper that the utilities industry can use include high-quality sensors and thermal capabilities, while its stability and lightweight design make it rapidly deployable.
Utilizing the data security, quality and flexibility enabled by Auterion across multiple UAS manufacturers means C2 Group pilots can be trained on one flight platform but fly any drone associated with it; reducing the training time and increasing overall productivity. Further productivity measures are achieved with Auterion’s Suite used to identify pilot efficiencies and its Simulator to augment pilot training. At the same time C2, with its industry knowledge having worked with multiple major utilities in the US, is providing insight that is helping to shape Auterion’s roadmap for new sensors and airframes into the future.
Brandon Del Priore, CTO at C2 Group, said: “We are proud to partner with Auterion to bring some of the best technology developed in the US to our clients in the utilities and critical infrastructure industries. When safety, data security, and data quality matter most, C2 Group will be there to offer customers the same US-made hardware and software used by the DoD’s Defense Innovation Unit and the US military. The open source ecosystem is helping to drive a better footprint within the marketplace and a better level of compatibility for US made products.”
Cynthia Huang, VP Enterprise Business Development at Auterion, said: “With DJI added to the entity list, we’re seeing enterprise drone operators accelerate their search for alternatives. Auterion’s open source software ecosystem provides more options, more solutions, and faster development timelines to the needs being identified today and companies are embracing the power of our approach. We are excited to partner with C2 Group to bring US made solutions and the advantages of open source to their customers.”
For more information, visit www.auterion.com/enterprise
SPH Engineering has released a UgCS update, adding support for the DJI M300 commercial drone. UgCS supports all flight planning patterns of the DJI M300, such as photogrammetry, corridor mapping and facade inspections.
UgCS allows to manage the following route parameters: speed, altitude, heading, camera attitude, camera triggering modes (by time, and by distance), turn types (Stop & Turn or Adaptive Bank turn).
“It also supports video recording in full-motion video format,” said Alexei Yankelevich, head of software development at SPH Engineering. “The drone is smart and safe, equipped with various cameras and sensors.
UgCS support for DJI M300 cameras covers:
displaying videos from both FPV and main camera (H20/H20T) on the UgCS for DJI screen;
switching between main camera lenses: wide, zoom, thermal (for H20T);
changing general settings of the active lens;
manual camera triggering in all modes (wide/zoom/thermal)
video recording
‘We have tested DJI M300 in various scenarios and can confirm that it can be used in extreme weather scenarios,” Yankelevich said, “including low temperatures while battery capacities are significantly improved.”
The most awaited improvement is Waypoints 2.0 which allows users to create up to 65,535 waypoints and set multiple actions for one or more payloads. This improvement is crucial for UgCS as it allows the drone to fly long routes in terrain- following mode with UgCS.
Blue Marble Geographics has released version 22.1 of Global Mapper, a GIS application that provides both novice and experienced geospatial professionals with a comprehensive array of spatial data processing tools.
Globe Mapper provides access to a variety of data formats and includes numerous spatial analysis tools at a genuinely affordable price.
The version 22.1 release includes enhancements to the software’s 3D Viewer including, a new Save 3D Views function and 3D View navigation tools to target the camera on specific features and lock the pivot axis around a feature of interest.
The data graphing and charting feature has been updated with support for creating graphs from multiple layers, and several new spatial operations functions have been added, including Union and Difference. As with previous releases, numerous new data formats are now supported including, support for exporting to COG (Cloud-Optimized GeoTiff) format and importing of IFC (Buildings) and GeoSLAM files.
“Every release of Global Mapper demonstrates Blue Marble’s commitment to continually expanding our software,” said Patrick Cunningham, Blue Marble President and CEO. “Version 22.1 includes countless improvements throughout the software but especially in 3D visualization and analysis, reflecting the rapidly increasing importance of 3D mapping.”
Blue Marble Application Specialists will be conducting a live webinar on Global Mapper v22.1 on March 3. During the hour-long presentation, scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. (U.S. Eastern Time), attendees will see the latest tools in action and will have the opportunity to ask questions about the new functionality. Registration is required.
We leave as we came, and, God willing, we shall return, with peace and hope for all mankind.” —Astronaut Gene Cernan’s closing words, the twelfth and last person on the moon as he stepped back into the Apollo XVII Lunar Module on December 13, 1972.
Photo: NASA
Apollo was about vision, courage and discovery. Apollo helped unravel the mysteries of the moon — a serene, desolate, and barren place, bleached by the sun, and covered in a pale, gray, abrasive dust made up of microscopic, razor sharp, glass-like shards called regolith that is 60 feet deep in places.
Beneath the regolith is the bedrock of the moon — the Lunafirma.
The next phase of exploration is building a permanent base station on the moon, aptly named Artemis, Apollo’s twin sister. It would be fitting when mankind returns that the next person who steps out onto the lunar surface were a woman.
Artemis Moon Log/Program Entry Date 42: Earth Day is Tuesday, November 4, 2025
The regolith mining operations are proceeding as expected. All operations are 100% solar power until additional mobile thorium reactor units arrive. The only existing thorium reactor unit is the Clavius Crater water extraction operation. Construction of the Selene-1 Moonbase has encountered a setback. No other issues are reported.
The regolith in the surrounding plain is 6 meters deep. The Miners have not experienced any issues. The electrostatic power suits are repelling the abrasive dust better than expected. The Miners have cleared a 50 m2 area down to the bedrock. From the Gateway observation deck, it appears as a small square crater. The Miners are working non-stop on rotating shifts clearing regolith, recharging, replacing parts, or in transit.
Analysis of the regolith reveals a uniform distribution of 21% silica, 13% aluminum, 10% calcium, 10% iron, 5% magnesium, and 2% sodium and titanium. Minor amounts of chromium, phosphorus, and potassium are present. Hydrogen is 0.0027%. The metals are all oxides containing 40% elemental oxygen, which is being separated during processing for later use.
West about 200 km, towards Mare Crisium, the gravitational anomalies increase but within the Selene-1 Moonbase crater the anomalies are negligible. Geospatial analysis of the drill cores show an extensive concentration of lithium beneath a 12-meter-thick layer of basalt east of Ginzel Crater. Towards the south are increased concentrations of titanium and tungsten. Ejection debris discovered during the regolith mining operation showed traces of neodymium. The estimated trajectory of the ejecta points to it coming from the Moiseev Crater complex. An expeditionary rover is in route to collect samples and will arrive in 6 hours. Readings from those samples will be in the next log report.
The Parabolic Solar Powered (PSP) laser torches in the open crater basin are performing as expected. The Constructors are 3D fusing the regolith into silicate glass forms and transporting them to staging areas for later construction. The higher-than-normal content of iron in the regolith is giving the glass forms a reddish hue.
At the south pole, the water extraction operation at Clavius Crater has been operating uninterrupted for 816 hours. The thorium reactor is powering the entire operation. The smelter is distilling volatiles out of the regolith at the rate of 1m3 every 8 hours extracting a liter of water every 24 hours. The operation is on schedule for the two 100-liter tanks of water for delivery to the Selene-1 Moonbase by the due date.
There are five 4G cellular towers around the perimeter of the Selene-1 Moonbase and regolith mining area at 3 km intervals. The cellular array is providing accuracies of 1 millimeter allowing for precision mining, drilling, construction, and transportation. As the operation expands, more towers will be added. Two more towers are stationed at Clavius Crater. The 360° cameras and radar provide continuous surveillance and monitoring.
Testing of the 3D vision and synthetic neural response systems of the robots is complete and all of them are operational. The real-time connectivity with the robots allows controllers onboard the Gateway to remote link into any of the robots using virtual headsets and haptic body suits for full-immersion control. AI is constantly scanning for anything unusual and alerts the controllers to remote in; otherwise, the robots operate continuously and efficiently. The Miners are clearing nearly 5m3 of regolith every 24 hours during light conditions.
Phase I is underway. Miners are leveling off the exposed bedrock to begin construction of the landing pad. Once finished, the Constructors will use the PSP laser torches to begin fusing together the silicate glass blocks to make the landing pad. Afterwards, The Miners will begin Phase II and lay the foundation for the railgun to propel the filled mineral containers back to Earth. Both Phase I and Phase II are on schedule.
The setback encountered during construction of the Selene-1 main base station is due to excessive heat build-up. The Excavators are clearing the floors and shaping the walls within the lava tube. However, the heat from the laser torches is building-up and shutting down the machines prematurely. When the ambient temperatures exceed 160°C the machines shutdown to protect their electrostatic coatings. Having no atmosphere and no wind the heat is not dissipating. The fluid in the heat exchangers is overheating. Until directed otherwise, the Excavators are doing 90-minute shifts and the Torches for 35 minutes. The Torches have to fuse together the support beams and the silicate glass protective layering behind the Excavators to preserve structural integrity. A software update set the laser torches to pulse fire extending the heat build-up for an additional 5 minutes. Only 15 meters have been cleared but the inflatable habitats require at least another 85 meters into the lava tube. The setback pushes back the date for completing the base station by approximately 620 hours. A temporary external module can house the astronauts for their return on April 19, 2026 until Selene-1 is completed.
The above fictional account of a Moon Log entry for the Artemis program is based on NASA’s mid-October announcement selecting Nokia to build a 4G network on the moon.
An in-depth look at the announcement holds interest for the GIS community.
The Artemis program will be heavily dependent on spatial technologies and require a Lunar Spatial Reference System. However, the Moon has significant challenges. There is no constellation of satellites orbiting the Moon to provide precise location data like GPS satellites do on Earth, and it is not possible to develop such a satellite system around the moon because the moon’s gravitational center is lopsided and weighted towards Earth due to tidal lock. This causes orbital decay of lunar satellites until they eventually crash into the lunar surface.
However, there are four orbital inclinations that allow for indefinite low orbits and may provide for a future Lunar Positioning System (LPS). Such a system would be extremely costly, so a less expensive and more immediate LPS will be a ground-based cellular network array; and 4G is preferred over 5G because it offers longer ranges, which is why NASA selected Nokia. NASA is working on other solutions through the Space Communications and Navigation (SCaN) program.
Figure 2: Unified Geologic Map of the Moon. Orthographic projections of the “Unified Geologic Map of the Moon” showing the geology of the Moon’s near side (left) and far side (right) with shaded topography from the Lunar Orbiter Laser Altimeter. It will serve as a reference for lunar science and future human missions to the moon. Gravitational mass concentrations are also depicted in the image showing the majority being on the nearside while the farside is void of gravitational concentrations. Check out a video of rotating sphere. (Image: NASA/GSFC/USGS)
In a blow to science fiction novels, it will not be humans out on the barren, dust covered lunar landscape, or in the cold depths of crater shadows with pickaxes and jackhammers. It will be robots working prolonged periods in extreme temperatures running on solar power or nuclear power while constantly bombarded by cosmic rays and direct solar radiation.
Accomplishing this will require real-time communication with spatially enabled, artificially intelligent machines able to support fully immersive experiences with 3D vision headsets and haptic feedback systems so controllers at the base station wearing special suits can remote into any robot.
Due to a 2.5-second transmission delay between the Earth and the Moon, Ground Control will be limited to observation and analysis. Autonomous rockets will ferry cargo and supplies between more distant locations on the moon and ferry astronauts back and forth to the Gateway space station.
The ground-based 4G cellular towers will be mobile units with retractable towers about 25 meters high with a circular array of solar panels that will unfurl about 10 meters up from the base of the mast to protect them from the abrasive regolith dust.
Beneath the panels rovers and robots will plug in and charge their batteries as they journey to and from the base station. The towers will have 360° cameras and sensors and will provide data links and a localized spatial reference system.
However, objects in flight, such as autonomous rockets, will require other means to navigate across the moon and between the space-based cargo ships and the base station.
One solution is visual-inertial odometry (VIO). It uses one or more cameras and at least one inertial measuring device. Those components are already standard on almost every smartphone. Position accuracy using VIO is derived by feature recognition — the most prominent features on the moon are craters.
In support of this initiative, the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency (NGA) is sponsoring a software developer’s challenge to create algorithms for identifying circular patterns in imagery. It’s harder than you think. Learn more here.
Figure 3. (Photo: NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University)
The base station will be inside a lava tube beneath the moon’s surface to protect astronauts and equipment from solar radiation and micrometeor impacts. Most of the resources for the moon base will be extracted and processed in-situ, which requires spatial analysis of drill core samples to pinpoint where to mine for minerals in the subsurface layers and where to locate scarce resources such as water. The lava tubes on the moon are also valuable for mining operations but navigating an underground environment with autonomous machines poses challenges of its own, some of which are spatial awareness. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) recently held a developer’s challenge to address navigating in subterranean domains.
“Reaching the Moon by three-man vessels in one long bound from Earth is like casting a thin thread across space. The main effort, in the coming decades, will be to strengthen this thread; to make it a cord, a cable, and, finally, a broad highway.” —Isaac Asimov
William Tewelow works for the Federal Aviation Administration. He is a graduate of the FAA management fellowship program. He served on special assignment to the U.S. Department of Transportation leading a national strategic geospatial iniative for the White House Open Data Partnership. He is a Geographic Information Systems Professional and a speaker for the Maryland STEMnet Scholar program. He was among the first in the nation to earn a Geospatial Specialist Certification from the U.S. Department of Labor while working at NASA Stennis Space Center. He has degrees in Geographic Information Technology, Intelligence Studies and is completing a masters degree in Organizational Management. William is a 23-year veteran for the U.S. Navy serving as a geospatial specialist, imagery intelligence specialist, a naval aviator, a meteorologist and a tactical oceanographer. He is married, enjoys writing and traveling. His favorite quote is, “A man’s mind changed by a new idea can never go back to its original dimension.” —Oliver Wendell Holmes
IQGeo, a developer of geospatial productivity and collaboration software for the telecoms and utility industries, has acquired OSPInsight International Inc., a U.S.-based leader in fiber-optic network management.
Under the terms of the agreement, IQGeo will purchase OSPInsight for $8.75 million, which will be funded through a mix of cash and shares. The completion of the acquisition is subject to shareholder final approval.
The OSPInsight fiber planning and design software for the telecoms market is highly complementary with IQGeo’s geospatial software that also supports telecoms network operations, according to a press release from IQGeo. While the current IQGeo offering targets larger enterprise network deployments (tier 1 and tier 2 operators), the OSPInsight software is ideally suited for the needs of smaller networks (tier 3 and tier 4 operators) with simple, fast deployments.
The combination of the two product lines, as well as the telecoms industry and software technology expertise, will enable IQGeo to service an expanded target market in existing and new geographies.
“The entire IQGeo team is very excited about the business and technology potential that will be created by the acquisition of OSPInsight,” said Richard Petti, CEO at IQGeo. “With more than 25 years of industry experience, they have developed an excellent product line and established an impressive list of customers, while building a very strong reputation in the telecoms industry. We see this as a fantastic opportunity that provides IQGeo with a proven software solution and sales channel for tier 3 and tier 4 network operators and it gives the OSPInsight team the global reach and financial resources needed to take their software to a wider audience.”
“The real winner in this acquisition will be OSPInsight customers,” explained Wade Anderson, CEO at OSPInsight. “Our customers will continue to enjoy the same level of support they’ve always had and have a greatly expanded product line for additional network management solutions. Existing and future OSPInsight customers will quickly have access to IQGeo’s industry-leading mobile software that digitizes field operations to improve network data quality and currency. The two product lines dovetail very nicely. I’m excited for the shared vision of providing world-class software that helps our telecoms customers transform their network operations. We can’t wait to get started.”
You can learn more about the acquisition by visiting the IQGeo Investor page to view a video interview with Richard Petti, IQGeo’s CEO and Haywood Chapman, IQGeo’s CFO.
Orolia Defense & Security has been granted security approval by SMC Production Corps. for BroadSim MNSA (modernized Navstar security algorithm).
The company delivered its first batch of MNSA M-Code to multiple customers in late August. BroadSim MNSA joins P(Y)-Code and AES M-Code as another GPS encrypted signal that Orolia Defense & Security supports, the company said.
Thought, skill, and patience went into developing this solution,” said Tyler Hohman, director of products at Orolia. “Not only have we taken an innovative approach to ensuring the security of this technology, our implementation was designed with ease of use being top-of-mind — from procurement, to delivery, to installation, to testing — so our customers can spend more time supporting their mission and less time making their simulator work.”
According to Orolia, BroadSim is a proven and trusted solution among government, Department of Defense and military customers with more than 100 systems fielded. BroadSim was recently selected by the U.S. military to support diverse testing of military GPS receivers, the company added.
BroadSim MNSA users receive a step-by-step guide allowing them to effortlessly set-up and generate MNSA in minutes and quickly downgrade the system on a moment’s notice, Orolia said.
The capability is currently available as a software upgrade to current BroadSim users or as a purchase alongside Orolia’s BroadSim hardware platform.
Orolia Defense & Security, which operates as a proxy-regulated company and wholly-owned subsidiary of Orolia, provides resilient PNT solutions to U.S. government agencies, defense organizations and their contractors.
The COVID-19 pandemic has brought uncertainties to all businesses, and the mapping industry has been no exception.
Slowdowns were observed during the first few months of 2020 as lockdowns were gradually enforced in Asia, then Europe, and finally the Americas.
As expected, projects were delayed during that initial period as companies were reorganizing their operations to allow for remote work.
Once that transition was overcome, a great number of projects resumed, and the geospatial field has been gradually coming back to normal since then. That can be explained by different factors, including, for example, several governments accelerating infrastructure projects to stimulate the economy.
A lot of mapping firms have turned the pandemic into an opportunity to improve their processes. Slower times allow reviewing production workflows and assessing bottlenecks. Once identified, new hardware and software solutions can be evaluated to optimize production.
Interestingly, the resulting investments into new solutions has been significant. Companies are seeing a quick payoff as their workload is rapidly accelerating, leading to an increase in their bottom line.
Overall, the mapping industry was able to rapidly adjust to the new reality caused by the pandemic. The changes that are being made in performing projects not only allow us to minimize risks in the short term, but also to increase profitability in the longer term.
SimActive is the developer of Correlator3D software, a patented end-to-end photogrammetry solution for the generation of high-quality geospatial data from satellite and aerial imagery, including drones. Correlator3D performs aerial triangulation (AT) and produces dense digital surface models (DSM), digital terrain models (DTM), point clouds, orthomosaics, 3D models and vectorized 3D features.
Powered by GPU technology and multi-core CPUs, Correlator3D ensures high processing speed to support rapid production of large datasets.
SimActive has been selling Correlator3D to leading mapping firms and government organizations around the world, offering cutting-edge photogrammetry software backed by exceptional customer support.
