Tag: technology

PrecisionHawk Partners With Genera Energy to Build Aerial Analysis Tools for Biomass Crops

PrecisionHawk and Genera Energy have partnered to develop new analysis algorithms specific to improving the efficiency and quality of sustainable biomass crop production and distribution. The algorithms will convert raw aerial imagery collected by drones and satellites into an actionable report for biomass crop farmers. The tools will be publicly licensed for use in the DataMapper software platform.

Within the DataMapper software platform, Genera will license the completed tools in the Algorithm Marketplace, DataMapper’s library of sophisticated algorithms for data analysis. The store automatically interprets data collected from a drone’s geographic information system during flight. The Genera algorithms will add to the currently available lineup of algorithms serving the agricultural industry such as assessing plant characteristics, identifying pests, and monitoring disease pressures.

Since 2008, Genera Energy has been an industry leader in biomass supply and supply-chain services. The first group of research tools to be developed under the new partnership will focus on lignocellulosic crops, core to Genera’s expertise.

“Working with PrecisionHawk to develop advanced data collection and analysis tools elevates commercial-scale biomass supply chains to the forefront of technological innovation for crop management, risk reduction, and efficiency,” said Sam Jackson, vice president of Business Development at Genera. “PrecisionHawk is the leading company in remote sensing in a variety of industries, including agriculture. Partnering our agronomic knowledge and skills with their outstanding technology platform is a win not only for us, but for the entire biomass industry.”

“This partnership is a great opportunity to develop decision support tools that provide a more sustainable and efficient path for energy production,” said Allison Ferguson, director of Education and Research Partnerships at PrecisionHawk. “Genera Energy has built an impressive reputation in agriculture and energy, and we look forward to offering this suite of useful solutions for the betterment of the industry.”

November 4, 2015
Bentley Systems offers new sewer and stormwater products
StormCAD from within OpenRoads.

Bentley Systems’ latest infrastructure products are now available. They include SewerGEMS, SewerCAD, StormCAD and CivilStorm V8i (SELECTseries 5) products for the analysis and design of wastewater and stormwater systems. All of the V8i (SELECTseries 5) sewer and stormwater products can be used as stand-alone products, or be run on CAD and GIS platforms.

They can also now be used from within the V8i (SELECTseries 4) versions of OpenRoads-based products — combining 3D design and hydraulic analysis capabilities in the same platform. The resulting comprehensive civil solution eliminates the need for extra import/export steps or file conversions, Bentley Systems said.

“The integration of Bentley’s OpenRoads civil design functionality with the advanced capabilities of Bentley’s storm and sewer analysis products will be a huge benefit to productivity and quality for our highway drainage design workflows,” said Chris Haines, senior civil engineer and PAR-BIM technical lead, Drainage and Utilities, Parsons.

Terrain model elevations on profiles.

“With these new releases, the automated hydraulic design functionality of our sewer and storm products can be effortlessly combined with the 3D physical design and terrain modeling capabilities of Bentley’s other civil products,” said Gregg Herrin, Bentley Systems director of product management, hydraulics and hydrology. “From an information mobility standpoint, this has a direct and substantial positive impact on roadway, site and municipal work where hydraulic engineering is just one part of a much larger project.”

Bentley’s SewerGEMS, SewerCAD, StormCAD and CivilStorm V8i (SELECTseries 5) products provide the following capabilities:
- Ground elevations from terrain models may be used during automated design runs to consider “cover” along a pipe’s length, improving decision making related to system design.
- Terrain model elevations can also now be added to profiles, improving the resulting visualization and the user’s understanding of the physical network.
- New low-impact development (LID) elements are now available, making it easier to model a wider range of controls for stormwater management.
- With the new lateral link element, engineers can include lateral pipes in their hydraulic analysis without creating “fake” elements where the laterals connect to the main pipe.
- Easy access to the Bentley Communities professional networking site is embedded within the applications, facilitating communications between users and Bentley’s hydraulic modeling experts.
Users of any of these SELECTseries 5 releases now benefit from the products’ support of MicroStation V8i (SELECTseries 3), OpenRoads V8i (SELECTseries 4), AutoCAD 2015 and 2016, and ArcGIS 10.2 and 10.3 (SewerGEMS only), giving them the ability to model from within the latest MicroStation, OpenRoads, AutoCAD or ArcGIS version.
November 4, 2015
Open Geospatial Consortium Seeks Participants for Elevation-Data Experiment
The Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) announces a Call for Participation in the OGC GeoPackage Elevation Extension Interoperability Experiment (GPKG-EE IE).

The OGC GeoPackage Standards Working Group (SWG) has identified a need to store tiled gridded elevation data in a GeoPackage. GeoPackage is an open, standards-based, platform-independent, portable, self-describing, compact format for transferring geospatial information. The SWG has developed a candidate extension to the GeoPackage Encoding Standard to support elevation data.

This capability will be used to support use cases such as the following:
- Visualization
  - 2D (hillshade, color relief, slope)
  - 3D (supporting changing view angles and level of detail)
- Analysis
  - Viewshed and line-of-sight
  - Cross-country mobility (off-road routing)
  - Site suitability and planning (slope analysis such as helicopter landing zones)
  - 3D geometry representations of features (ground-based, airspace)
  - Terrain association (associating images to mapped locations)
  - Augmented reality based training
The SWG proposes validating the extension by running an Open Geospatial Consortium Interoperability Experiment. An OGC Interoperability Experiment is a rapid, low overhead, formally structured OGC-facilitated activity in which members achieve specific technical objectives that further the OGC Standards Baseline. The GPKG-EE IE will test and refine the elevation extension. To do this, the SWG needs the international support and acceptance of a globally representative community that provides both domain and technical expertise to this project. While the OGC is a member-driven organization and the SWG needs a core of OGC members to support and initiate this work, non-members can participate as “observers.”

The GPKG-EE IE will perform the following experiments:
- Experiment #1: produce GeoPackages containing tiled gridded elevation data in accordance with the proposed extension.
- Experiment #2: use the GeoPackages to perform visualization and/or analysis operations as described above.
The results of the Interoperability Experiment will be documented in an OGC Engineering Report. In addition to the Engineering Report, a demonstration is tentatively scheduled for the OGC Technical Committee meeting in Washington, D.C., in March 2016.

The OGC asks interested organizations to indicate their support and commitment to be involved in this Interoperability Experiment. A summary of the activity plan, requirements for participation, schedule, and kick-off meeting details are available. Contact details are included in the activity plan.

Participants in the GPKG-EE IE, which will run until March 31, 2016, will test implementations and provide constructive comments on the exchange data model and resulting trial documentation. Experience has shown that those working in these initiatives gain valuable insights that can be used to improve existing information systems or fast-track the development of new systems. Participants gain sufficient expertise to start deploying working services for their existing data and local situations.

The following OGC members proposed the GeoPackage Elevation Extension Interoperability Experiment:
- Luciad, Belgium
- Image Matters LLC
- Compusult, Canada
- U.S. Army Geospatial Center
The OGC is an international geospatial standards consortium of more than 515 companies, government agencies, research organizations and universities participating in a consensus process to develop publicly available standards. OGC standards support interoperable solutions that “geo-enable” the Web, wireless and location-based services and mainstream IT.
November 4, 2015
New Esri App Enables Users to Create, Deploy and Analyze Surveys
A new app from Esri Labs is designed for developing and deploying surveys for fieldworkers using mobile devices. With Survey123 for ArcGIS, users can create form-based surveys, including polls and questionnaires, and share them with employees or volunteers. They can use the surveys to collect data in the field, even when offline. Later, they can visualize and analyze that data using Esri ArcGIS.

Survey123 for ArcGIS provides a complete workflow for creating, sharing, and analyzing smart-form-based surveys. Users can
- create intuitive, form-based surveys and publish them.
- share the surveys with fieldworkers, who will use them to capture data, online or offline.
- visualize survey data on a map and analyze the data to better understand conditions in the field and detect patterns.
October 30, 2015
New Esri App Enables Users to Create, Deploy and Analyze Surveys
A new app from Esri Labs is designed for developing and deploying surveys for fieldworkers using mobile devices. With Survey123 for ArcGIS, users can create form-based surveys, including polls and questionnaires, and share them with employees or volunteers. They can use the surveys to collect data in the field, even when offline. Later, they can visualize and analyze that data using Esri ArcGIS.

Survey123 for ArcGIS provides a complete workflow for creating, sharing, and analyzing smart-form-based surveys. Users can
- create intuitive, form-based surveys and publish them.
- share the surveys with fieldworkers, who will use them to capture data, online or offline.
- visualize survey data on a map and analyze the data to better understand conditions in the field and detect patterns.
October 30, 2015
National Map Corps Updates Volunteer Badges

The National Map Corps has updated the recognition badges that it awards for participation in its crowdsourcing mapping project. Volunteer “citizen scientists” who collect manmade structure data such as police stations, schools, hospitals and cemeteries, to provide more precise spatial data for the USGS web-based mapping products can earn points and virtual badges.

Due to continuous project growth and popularity, TNMCorps has added more badge levels and revised the current awards. More than 160,000 points have been edited or verified to date.

The project started in 2012, and since that time, the increasing number of volunteers have verified, edited, deleted and created more than 160,000 structures points. In appreciation for the efforts of these “free” mappers, those who reach certain milestones are celebrated in the form of virtual badges.

The newly designed badges showcase the same classic surveying tools and aerial data collection methods, but have been colorfully updated and highlight a variety of amazing landscapes across the United States.

A second set of badges based on aerial data collection was introduced a year ago as some extra-energetic volunteers quickly surpassed the first set of badge levels. Currently, 11 possible badges can be earned beginning with the Order of the Surveyor’s Chain (25 points) and ending with the Squadron of Biplane Spectators (6000 + points).

As volunteer map editors attain each level, a congratulatory email is sent to the awardee with a description of the badge and encouragement to achieve the next level. With permission, volunteer accomplishments are highlighted on TNMCorps Recognition page, and The National Map Twitter (#TNMCorps).

October 30, 2015
U.S. Forest Service deploys Avenza PDF Maps app for firefighting

A San Juan interagency hotshot crew member refers to a map on his iPad as he coordinates execution of their burnout operation. (Photo credit: Esther Godson)

Every year thousands of acres of forests are engulfed in fires. Recognizing the benefits of geospatial technology, the United States Forest Service (USFS) Geospatial Management Office (GMO) is using Avenza System Inc.’s award-winning PDF Maps mobile app to deliver interactive digital maps to firefighters and emergency response teams situated in forests across the United States and its territories.

The USFS fights wildfires and other natural disasters in more than 155 national forests and 20 national grasslands, totaling an estimated 193 million acres or 30 percent of all federally managed lands. The USFS GMO is responsible for the implementation of the Forest Service geospatial program which includes using technologies such as GIS, remote sensing, cartography, geodesy and GPS.

The centered blue GPS position on an operations map pinpoints the user’s location. (Photo credit: Carl Beyerhelm)

With increased use of digital solutions, the USFS benefits from Avenza’s PDF Maps app geospatial technology in enabling its thousands of firefighters and support personnel. The PDF Maps app aids emergency response teams who use digital devices for work in the field.

The app provides constant access to geographic information and points of interest, with additional interactive features such as measuring, place marking and location tagging. The app operates without the risk of lost reception due to cell tower proximity and does not rely on an Internet connection to use map data. It uses GPS to obtain and display an accurate position on the ground regardless of network connectivity.

A hardcopy map is compared to its digital counterpart cached on a smartphone. (photo credit: Kari Greer)

“Accessing maps on mobile devices ensure responders have accurate and current geographic information while they’re out in the field,” said Carl Zulick, Geospatial Information Officer, USFS. “Avenza’s PDF Maps app makes it possible for teams to use any map digitally without requiring a data connection while involved in an emergency situation. Since the maps are location-aware and interactive, we can capture real-time data, photos, and locations. This data can be shared to assess the situation and make necessary strategic changes and improve situational awareness.”

The PDF Maps app is available now on the iTunes App Store and Google Play Store free of charge for personal recreational use. A Windows version is currently in public beta release. Commercial, government and academic use licensing is available for a nominal annual fee. Pricing of each map is set by the publisher and free maps remain free to users through the PDF Maps app in-app store. Commercial use licensing starts at US$49 per year and drops on a per-device basis as deployment numbers increase.

Mobile maps help air-tanker pilots avoid the mapped yellow areas, where application of aerial fire retardant is restricted. (Photo credit: Max Wahlberg)

October 30, 2015
SkyPixel Announces Drone Photography Competition

SkyPixel, an aerial photography community run in cooperation with DJI, has announced a drone photography competition. The 2015 SkyPixel Photo Contest is accepting entries starting Monday, Oct. 26, at 00:00 Hong Kong time (GMT+8). Prizes include cash and DJI drones and related equipment.

The contest invites both budding and professional aerial photographers to enter a selection of their best work. The competition is split into two groups, Professional and Enthusiast, each with their own awards for the following categories: Beauty, Unique Dronies, and Drones in Use (aimed at showcasing drones in the air), in addition to an overall Grand Prize.

To celebrate the rise and popularity of aerial photography, the Popular Award will be given to the contest’s 10 most popular photos, based on number of likes received on SkyPixel. Winners will be announced on Jan. 7, 2016.

SkyPixel users can submit their entries at the competition page.

October 27, 2015
Red Hen’s MediaMapper Highlighted at GEOINT Program
Bruce Donaldson of Red Hen Systems LLC gave a presentation about MediaMapper Mobile, an Android app with extensive utility for ISR professionals and civilians, on a panel at the Innovative GEOINT Application Provider Program (IGAPP). IGAPP was held in St. Louis on Oct. 20. Donaldson is Red Hen’s Intelligence Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) manager.

During his years of field service, Donaldson worked to address the need for Mobile Geo-Intelligence platforms that can rapidly collect, process and disseminate geospatial data and other multimedia within 24 hours of a mission.

At its essence, MediaMapper Mobile enables users to:
- Geotag video, photos, audio and other notes. Annotate ground track logs. Create audio and visual notes connecting them to points of interest. Tag features from a touchscreen.
- See track log (a.k.a breadcrumb trail). View on a map along with GPS details about location, including latitude, longitude, and altitude. Inspect media objects and other sensor streams. Share with others with XML and KML/KMZ.
- Use with Vectronix, LTI or Trimble laser rangefinder (compass, tilt, range, calibration). Or, triangulate your location by taking two or more photos of the same object. Once the feature is identified in these images, MediaMapper Mobile will do the calculation to show you where the object was and where you were when you took the photos.
- Configure settings for GPS devices, cameras, shuttering automations for intervalometry (time/distance).
- Log files, manage collection projects, and complete inspection forms on site.
- Transfer your raw multimedia data files and their track logs from your Android device to a laptop, tablet or server to view and analyze on Google Earth, Esri ArcGIS, FalconView or MediaMapper for desktop.
- Patrol/Event Recorder with NMEA compliant record schemas compatible to MediaGeotagger and GEM2MISB for Esri ArcGIS and the free Full Motion Video module.
MediaMapper Mobile is available at the Google Play store. For more information, call Ellen Skinner at 970-344-6290 or email [email protected].
October 26, 2015
EHan’s New Generation of Drones Coming Soon

EHang, a UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) technology company, will launch a new consumer drone on Nov. 4, with a flash sale on starting the same day on the company’s website, which is displaying a countdown clock for the launch.

With the Ghost Drone, EHang introduced a significant step forward in making drone flight an accessible reality for millions of consumers around the world. The company is dedicated to bringing easy, intuitive and user-friendly methods for controlling drones to the masses. The Ghost’s largest contribution to this effort has been eliminating the complexity of using a radio-control transmitter by creating a first-of-its-kind pilot system controlled entirely through the EHang mobile app, making drones more easily accessible by everyone.

EHang also announced it had acquired its own independent factory production lines in the company’s new headquarters in Guangzhou, China.

October 23, 2015
MAPPS Selected for FAA Registration Task Force

MAPPS has accepted an invitation from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to be a member of the UAS Registration Task Force (RTF) Aviation Rulemaking Committee (ARC).

MAPPS is a national association of private-sector firms in the surveying, spatial data and geographic information systems field in the United States and a leader on the use of unmanned aircraft systems in the geospatial field.

The UAS RTF ARC was announced on Monday by Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx to help minimize potentially unsafe UAS operations and incidents. The task force will work to develop minimum requirements for a UAS registration process for safe integration of UAS into the National Airspace.

MAPPS has tapped John Perry, founder and CEO of Altavian based in Gainesville, Fla., to represent the association on the task force.

“We are pleased and honored that the FAA has invited MAPPS to participate in the UAS RTF ARC,” said MAPPS President Susan Marlow. “MAPPS has actively called on the FAA to move forward with UAS rulemaking, and we are thrilled to be a part of the process.”

MAPPS has been a voice for the commercial use of UAS for geospatial data acquisition. The association has been engaged with FAA on UAS issues since 2009 and testified before state legislatures and participated in Congressional roundtables. MAPPS Executive Director John Palatiello was appointed to serve on the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) working group on beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) operations of commercial unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), and the association serves on a committee of the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) to develop policy recommendations to the 50 state legislatures on UAS.

On Nov. 17-18, MAPPS will host sessions on geospatial activities at Drone World Expo, at the San Jose Convention Center in San Jose, Calif. The geospatial content will explore factors to consider when planning the start-up of a stand-alone UAS business, or a department in an existing surveying or mapping firm. It will kick off with a presentation on “What You Need to Know Before Starting Up Your Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) Department,” as well as instruction on issues including system operating limitations, flight training, crew responsibilities, operator authority, client expectations, standards and licensing. Speakers at the policy conference will include Bryan Baker, UAS sales manager, Leica Geosystems; Jeff Lovin, senior vice president, director of Geospatial Services, Woolpert; Andy Nickerson of Aerovel Corp.; Mike Tully, president, Aerial Services, Inc.; and David Yoel, CEO, American Aerospace, Inc.

October 23, 2015
Blue Marble Offers Lidar Module Upgrade
Blue Marble’s Global Mapper V17‘s Lidar Module is an optional enhancement to its software that provides advanced lidar processing tools, including automatic point-cloud classification, feature extraction, cross-sectional viewing and editing, faster surface generation, and more. It is designed for anyone using or managing terrestrial or airborne lidar as well as other point cloud datasets.

The Lidar Module was first released with Global Mapper V15, and a host of new lidar tools have since been added. Building on the existing functionality for identifying ground, building and vegetation points in an unclassified point cloud, the latest release of the module includes a powerful new tool for detecting and automatically reclassifying above-ground utility lines.

After customizing the reclassification parameters, such as minimum height above ground and linear offset threshold, the points representing power lines are automatically attributed with the Wire – Conductor ASPRS lidar class. Analysis of linear patterns in these reclassified points can subsequently be used to create 3D vector lines.

Addressing a major concern among lidar users, the latest release of the Global Mapper Lidar Module provides an efficient and effective way to remove noise from point cloud data. This powerful filtering tool can reclassify or automatically delete any points that are beyond a prescribed elevation or height above ground threshold within a local area.

Other enhancements to the module include dramatically faster data rendering and processing as well as updated filtering tools for selecting and, if necessary, removing points based on class, return intensity, color range, and many other parameters.

Additional functionality offered in the Lidar Module includes:
- A convenient Lidar Toolbar for easy access to key editing and analysis functions
- Multiple gridding options for faster DSM or DTM generation
- Access to point cloud files containing a billion points or more
- Automatic point classification tools that automatically distinguish building, ground, vegetation and power lines and above-ground utility cables in unclassified layers
- Feature extraction functionality to automatically create 3D building footprints, trees and power lines
- Cross-sectional rendering using Global Mapper’s Path Profile tool for viewing and editing the point cloud in a vertical perspective
- Advanced filtering options to efficiently remove erroneous or unneeded points
- Detect and reclassify or delete noise points
- Lidar scripting commands for streamlining workflow
- Point colorization from underlying imagery offering photo-realistic point cloud rendering in Global Mapper’s 3D Viewer
- Support for reporting lidar statistics
- Support for importing and exporting most common lidar formats
- Support for NIR (near-infrared) data
October 22, 2015