GPS World

Tag: technology

  • Esri honors Microsoft for innovation in location strategy

    Esri has awarded Microsoft Corporation with the New Technology Integration Award at the Esri Partner Conference in Palm Springs. The award honors a company in Esri’s Partner Network for taking map visualization and location analytics to the next level by integrating ArcGIS in a new or innovative way.

    Microsoft was recognized for integrating Esri’s ArcGIS Maps into Microsoft Power BI, a set of business analytics tools. Power BI allows users to share insights in the form of interactive maps layered with authoritative data in one process. Users can access valuable geographic information in order to make better business decisions more efficiently without having to export data from numerous sources online, Esri said.

    Power BI enables users to create dashboards, reports, and visualizations of data through a cloud-based service. This allows anyone in an organization to use Power BI’s powerful analytical capabilities anywhere, and access them via an application that can be downloaded to mobile devices. For instance, a retailer surveying a new location can use ArcGIS Maps within the Power BI mobile app from the field to determine its proximity to potential affluent consumers.

    “We’re excited and humbled to receive the 2017 Esri Partner Conference New Technology Integration award,” said Kamal Hathi, general manager, Power BI, Microsoft Corp. “Thanks to the dedicated team across Esri and Microsoft, we delivered a sophisticated solution in record time. This was made possible by the open and extensible Microsoft Power BI platform which makes it easy for partners such as Esri to plug in and add value to our mutual customers. ArcGIS Maps for Power BI continues to iterate and improve based on customer feedback, reflecting the agility and customer oriented approach of both companies.”

    Armed with what Esri calls The Science of Where, a transformational way to unlock data’s full potential, Power BI users can create informed location-based analyses for everything from allocating resources to the best places to start a new business.

  • Trump administration proposes slashing NOAA funding

    Hurricane Fran at peak intensity on Sept.4, 1996. (Image: NOAA)
    Hurricane Fran at peak intensity on Sept.4, 1996. (Image: NOAA)

    The Washington Post reported March 3 that the Trump administration proposes slashing the budget of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) by 17 percent, cutting steeply into climate change research funding and satellite programs.

    The Post cited a four-page budget memo it obtained. In the memo, NOAA’s Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research would lose $126 million, or 26 percent, of its funding, while NOAA’s satellite data division would lose $513 million, or 22 percent, of its funding.

    The proposed cuts to NOAA would also eliminate funding for f smaller programs, including external research, coastal management, estuary reserves and “coastal resilience,” which seeks to bolster the ability of coastal areas to withstand major storms and rising seas.

    NOAA is part of the Commerce Department, which would be hit by an overall 18 percent budget reduction from its current funding level.

  • Global Mapper update improves 3D tools

    Blue Marble Geographics is offering a version 18.1 update to Global Mapper that includes numerous functional enhancements and introduces an new tools, upgrades to existing components, performance improvements and support for new formats and online data sources.

    The release of version 18 of Global Mapper in September 2016 introduced a redesigned interface with significantly improved layer and workflow management as well as enhanced 3D display.

    Building on this foundation, version 18.1 further improves the 3D experience with a new option to freeze the 3D View while working in the adjacent 2D view, speed improvements when rendering raster or 3D model formats, and improved functionality for creating 3D fly-though visualizations. For lidar module users, a new data quality-control tool is available for adjusting point cloud elevations to match surveyed ground control points.

    Blue Marble’s GIS software is used by hundreds of thousands customers throughout the world who need affordable, user-friendly, powerful GIS solutions. Users are in industries including software, oil and gas, mining, civil engineering, surveying and technology companies, as well as government departments and academic institutions.

    The release of version 18.1 offers numerous enhancements that are a testament to the ever-increasing importance of 3D data. Global Mapper’s 3D view, which introduced the ability to display an “infinite view” of all loaded 3D data in version 18, now offers the option to pause the 3D rendering when interacting with the 2D map. This streamlines workflow and significantly improves memory usage by eliminating the need to continually refresh the display.

    The rendering speed for 3D raster layers as well as 3D models has also been drastically improved. When creating a 3D fly-through visualization or recording, the flight parameters now include bank angle, to more realistically simulate a pilot’s eye view, and variable velocity, allowing the flight speed to be adjusted between segments.

    Other enhancements in version 18.1 include a new option to calculate a summary of the color statistics in a raster layer within a defined area; faster loading and display of large vector files such as shapefiles; support for many new formats, including exporting of LandXML and importing of RMaps/MBTiles and BPF lidar files; and expanded online data options including the General Bathymetric Chart of the Oceans (GEBCO).

    Users of the optional Global Mapper Lidar Module, which provides advanced point cloud processing tools, can now perform precise quality control of their data against established ground control points. This allows the elevation values associated with each point to be adjusted to conform to the surveyed elevations at these locations.

    “With more and more data having a height or elevation component, the importance of Global Mapper’s 3D viewing capability is underlined,” stated Blue Marble President Patrick Cunningham. “For several years, our development priority has been to optimize the user experience when interacting with lidar, DEMs or other 3D layers and with the release of version 18.1 we are seeing some of the results of that effort with more display control, improved 3D interaction, and stunning 3D visualization.”

    Blue Marble application specialists will be conducting a live webinar on Tuesday, March 21, during which they will showcase the highlights of this release. This hour-long presentation is scheduled to begin at 2 p.m. (U.S. Eastern Time) and it will provide an opportunity to both see the latest tools and to ask questions about the new functionality. Space is limited and registration is required so be sure to sign up today.

    For a complete list of new features and enhancements or to download a trial copy of Global Mapper 18.1, visit the website.

  • LizardTech releases MrSID gen 4 decode SDK version 9.5.4

    Developers can add support for MG4 files created with LizardTech’s GeoExpress Version 9.5.3

    LizardTech, a division of Celartem Inc. and a provider of software solutions for image asset handling, has released MrSID Generation 4 Decode SDK Version 9.5.4 to compliment the release of LizardTech’s GeoExpress Version 9.5.3.

    This latest SDK release includes support to view MrSID compressed Harris Geiger-Mode LIDAR point clouds, paralleling previously incorporated tools for viewing MrSID compressed LAS and LAZ point clouds.

    LizardTech continues to enhance lidar and raster compression capacity across its image asset handling platform for image compression, management, distribution, integration and deployment. This includes updating compilers, refreshing target computing platforms and improving compression performance.

    Trusted as a raster format by geospatial professionals since 1992 and supported in a broad spectrum of GIS and CAD applications, MrSID is the highest quality file format with the most advanced compression technology available. A no cost download of the MrSID Generation 4 Decode SDK is available at http://developer.lizardtech.com, and enables application developers to add support for viewing and decoding multiple image files and most recently Geiger-mode, LAS and LAZ point clouds compressed into MrSID.

  • Sokkia releases CX series total station

    Sokkia-cx60-gallery04Sokkia announces the release of the CX-60 total station in the Americas with upgraded data transfer and storage options for the series. Featuring RED-tech reflectorless capabilities, the new CX-60 is designed to provide an entry-level solution with a fast and powerful EDM.

    “The CX-60’s RED-tech technology reflectorless EDM offers a fast distance measurement of 0.9 seconds,” said Ray Kerwin, director of global surveying products. “The instrument also offers a new USB option for quick and easy data transfer, along with 2- and 5-arc second accuracies ideal for land surveying, topography, construction layout, foundations and exterior job sites as well as as-built projects.”

    RED-tech technology allows the total stations to operate reflectorlessly with an EDM of up to 350 m or 4000 m with a prism.

    The CX-60 instruments offer optional Bluetooth functionality, providing connectivity of up to 10 meters (32 ft.) with controllers.

    Additional features include 10,000 points of memory, a battery life of up to 15 hours, dual axis compensation, a waterproof design, and a laser pointer.

  • Mapping avalanches for safety

    A researcher prepares to use lidar to scan snow depth at Arapahoe Basin in Colorado. (Photo: Riegl)
    A researcher prepares to use lidar to scan snow depth at Arapahoe Basin in Colorado. (Photo: Riegl)

    In 2014, an avalanche injured two Colorado avalanche control workers. They had been using an “avalauncher” compressed gas cannon to shoot charges into slopes that posed a serious avalanche risk to motorists below, but the charge exploded too early, in the barrel of the launcher.

    The accident prompted a re-evaluation of the Colorado Department of Transportation’s avalanche control techniques.

    Now, transportation officials have brought in researchers who are applying lidar to safely map snow depth in steep terrain, making avalanche control safer and more efficient for safety teams.

    Jeffrey Deems, a researcher with the National Snow and Ice Data Center at the University of Colorado Boulder, and his colleagues developed the new application for lidar systems that map snow depth at high resolution. The researchers craft detailed maps of the slopes in summer, without snow, and then compare them to snow-covered slopes months later.

    The researchers have been testing the technique at Colorado’s Arapahoe Basin Ski Area, where they help snow safety teams target explosives placements. The snow-depth change maps help the safety teams look for old and new snow accumulation patterns.

    The data help the safety team refine their explosives targeting plans and guide them when they need to decide whether to shoot explosives into certain areas.

    Also, explosives delivery tram lines for a ski area expansion are being planned and refined with the aid of the lidar-derived snow depth maps, allowing more efficient and effective tram network design. The lidar snow depth maps revealed less-obvious accumulation spots and supported a redesign of the planned tram line network.

  • DroneDeploy offers flight logs solution to simplify regulatory compliance

    DroneDeploy, a cloud-based drone software platform, is offering a flight logs solution with its partners Airnest, Drone Complier, DroneLogbook, Healthy Drones, Kitty Hawk, NVDrones and Skyward.

    The logs contain highly detailed GPS positioning, drone battery life, camera activity and more, providing a vital record of flight activities often required for regulatory compliance and insurance.

    Direct access to actual flight logs eliminates the tedious, manual data entry process for capturing flight data and enables drone operators to easily track and monitor their drone flights for regulatory compliance, insurance and fleet maintenance.

    DroneDeploy’s more than 10,000 users in 130 countries can access logs of their DroneDeploy mapping flights. Leveraging their actual flight log data with DroneDeploy’s partners enables businesses to:

    • Automate logging and recording of all drone flights for compliance and insurance purposes
    • Monitor equipment performance to recommend preventative maintenance
    • Explore trends in flight characteristics to define best practices

    “Many large companies and enterprises are looking to scale their drone program and do it efficiently,” says Jonathan Evans, CEO of Skyward. “Now, with access to DroneDeploy flight logs, Skyward customers can manage flight information across their entire fleet.”

    Other solutions on the market today typically require a high cost investment and lock businesses into working with a single drone software vendor, DroneDeploy says. DroneDeploy’s offering enables businesses to select what works best for them from a selection of industry leading drone compliance, insurance and fleet management partners. This highlights DroneDeploy’s approach to addressing the needs of the commercial drone market by developing a best-of-breed offering with ecosystem partners.

  • Oregon moves to tablets for no-stake 3D design

    The Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) is embracing the growing trend in highway construction to go “stakeless” and push to full 3D design.

    With more contractors using automated machine guidance applications, ODOT’s construction personnel are being asked to inspect projects with fewer stakes and visual indicators for line and grade. Employees are seeking to use the same data and information to determine line and grade when building or fixing stretches of road.

    ODOT inspectors Jorge Jimenez and Mike Stennett at Multnomah Falls, preparing for a night-time paving operation. (Photo: Chris Pucci)
    ODOT inspectors Jorge Jimenez and Mike Stennett at Multnomah Falls, preparing for a night-time paving operation. (Photo: Chris Pucci)

    To address this need, rugged tablet maker DT Research worked closely with ODOT to design purpose-built Inspector Positioning Tablets that run GPS locating and 3D modeling applications, and take advantage of the Oregon Real-Time GNSS Network.

    “MicroSurvey Field Genius surveying software is used to read XML files directly, allowing the inspector to work with the same files that the contractors received from the roadway designers,” said Chris Pucci, ODOT Construction Automation Surveyor.

    The tablets enable ODOT to fully use its knowledge of the Oregon Real-Time GNSS Network and expertise in survey-grade RTK GNSS to achieve accuracies of +/0.05 feet.

    The model DT391GS tablets have 9-inch touchscreens. The tablets can be used as handhelds or with an external antenna and pole. ODOT purchased one of four GNSS options offered by DT Research for the DT391GS tablets. The options enable inspectors and construction crews to employ a combination of GPS locating and 3D modeling to guide construction workers.

    The goal is to allow the inspectors to make the same checks they would have made if there had been traditional construction staking on a project, not to make inspectors into surveyors, Pucci noted.

    A one-day training is provided to train construction personnel before they are issued a tablet. “The tablets have been very well received by our construction inspection personnel,” he said.

    The tablet project is now in the pilot phase with 20 tablets deployed to eight construction offices and more than 70 construction personnel having been trained. “We also just placed an order for 22 more tablets for the upcoming 2017 construction season,” Pucci said.

  • Cartographies of Disease traces long history of maps and medicine

    CartographyDisease-Esri-WThe new edition of Cartographies of Disease: Maps, Mapping, and Medicine from Esri traces the long history of how maps have been used to help unlock the mysteries behind the cause and spread of diseases such as cholera, yellow fever and Ebola. Ebola is the focus of two new chapters.

    Cartographies of Disease was first published in 2005 and showed how maps could be used as an important tool for studying both chronic conditions and disease epidemics. It became a must-read for policy makers and others working in public health and medicine.

    In this expanded edition, author Tom Koch adds new material to deepen readers’ understanding of medical mapping from the 17th to 21st centuries. The book covers the mapping of diseases and medical conditions such as cholera, yellow fever, typhoid fever, sandfly fever, hernia, lymphoma, arteriosclerotic heart disease, cancer, influenza, AIDS, West Nile virus and Ebola.

    “Cartographies of Disease is a book about our confrontations with bacterial and viral agents across history,” Koch wrote in the book’s introduction. “It is also about how maps help us profile those conditions in our attempts to restrict them. Ebola in 2014 reminded us that it’s urgent to understand the conditions that promote disease and the ways we confront them on the ground.”

    The book provides a nontechnical narrative and a visual history of mapping’s role in studying what causes disease, understanding where and how diseases spread, and how they can be combated. The illustrations include more than 100 maps and charts, from a pair of 1694 maps of plague locations and containment zones in Bari, Italy, to digital maps of the 2014 Ebola outbreak, created using geographic information system (GIS) technology.

    Ebola charted

    Ebola is the focus of the two new chapters. In Chapter 13, the international perception of Ebola’s threat is charted and, with it, the fear engendered by the possibility that a local outbreak might become an international pandemic. Perceptions of the disease and reactions to it are mapped using contemporary technologies such as GIS.

    Chapter 14 is devoted to the practical issues of mapping an infectious virus like Ebola in developing countries. It describes how the potential for Ebola to spread was initially overlooked and how, in the future, new epidemics might be better contained. Mapping, Koch argues, can help identify disease threats, direct medical assistance when necessary, and educate people—locally and internationally — about new diseases.

    Koch is a medical ethicist and gerontologist based in Canada. As an adjunct professor at the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, he developed a series of teaching labs for medical geography.

    Cartographies of Disease: Maps, Mapping, and Medicine, new expanded edition, is now available in print (ISBN: 9781589484672, 412 pages, US$79.99) or as an e-book (ISBN: 9781589484764, 412 pages, US$59.99). The print edition of the book can be obtained from online retailers worldwide, at esri.com/esripress, or by calling 1-800-447-9778.

    The e-book edition is available for purchase from online retailers. Outside the United States, visit esri.com/esripressorders for complete ordering options.

  • FAA and SkyPan reach agreement on unmanned aircraft enforcement cases

    The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has announced a comprehensive settlement agreement with aerial photography company SkyPan International of Chicago. The agreement resolves enforcement cases that alleged the company operated unmanned aircraft (UAS) in congested airspace over New York City and Chicago, and violated airspace regulations and aircraft operating rules.

    Under the terms of the agreement, SkyPan will pay a $200,000 civil penalty. The company also agrees to pay an additional $150,000 if it violates Federal Aviation Regulations in the next year, and $150,000 more if it fails to comply with the terms of the settlement agreement.

    SkyPan also agrees to work with the FAA to release three public service announcements in the next 12 months to support the FAA’s public outreach campaigns that encourage drone operators to learn and comply with UAS regulations.

    The agreement settles enforcement cases involving a $1.9 million civil penalty that the FAA proposed against SkyPan International Inc. of Chicago in October 2015. It is the largest civil penalty the agency has proposed against a UAS operator.

  • CartoPac software suite adds iOS support

    Image: CartoPac
    Image: CartoPac

    CartoPac International Inc. has added iOS mobile operating system support to its CartoPac software suite. CartoPac also supports Windows and Windows Mobile applications, but the company says the addition of iOS enables it to deliver advanced mobile functionality to a broad range of devices used for geospatial data collection.

    “Companies struggle to find single mobile software that supports the diverse requirements and robust functionality needed for both asset inventory and inspection workflows,” says Glenn Vlass, CartoPac’s vice president of marketing and product management, in a news release. “With the recent addition of mobile for iOS, our software gives organizations a single platform to author, publish, deploy and manage mobile solutions for their entire workforce.”

    Since its introduction in 2002, the company says the CartoPac suite has been adopted by energy companies, natural resource agencies and municipalities, as well as gas and electric utilities, to manage their assets. CartoPac applications are fully integrated with Esri GIS solutions.

    The suite has the ability to configure solutions that leverage data from both the GIS database and other enterprise databases, such as work order management systems.

    CartoPac Workflow Manager, a module in the suite, supports configured structured processes for bringing field data back to the enterprise. CartoPac also supports both fully integrated on premise deployments and complete hosted deployments using CartoPac Core.

    “Regardless of the field device, the captured or updated data will be complete, consistent and accurate,” Vlass says.

  • Open-source GIS for agriculture focus of webinar

    A webinar next week will focus on the benefits of open-source geographic information systems (GIS) for the agriculture industry, led by Boundless and featuring Monsanto Company.

    “Using Open Source to Help Feed the World” will be held Jan. 31 at 11:00 a.m. PT / 2 p.m. ET, hosted by
    Andy Dearing, CEO of Boundless, and featuring Martin P. Mendez-Costabel, Geospatial Big Data Engineering and Strategy Lead of Monsanto.

    In the free webinar, attendees will learn how to unlock their geospatial data with open GIS solutions to gain major business benefits. The webinar will offer insights into how to combine a GIS ecosystem with a scalable open system, best practices in system deployment and rising trends in open GIS systems.

    Register here.