ISPRS Celebrates its First Centenary

The International Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing (ISPRS) celebrated the centenary of its founding at the Vienna University of Technology on 4th July 2010, with a wide international participation of more than 350 people, including many representatives from related international organisations, in the same building as its foundation on 4th July 1910. The International Society of Photogrammetry (ISP) (as it was then) was founded at the Vienna University of Technology by Professor Eduard Doležal, Professor of Practical Geometry and former rector of the University.At the celebrations the Society: •laid a wreath on the grave of Eduard Doležal recognizing his... (read more)

2010-09-07 10:21:39

Woolpert Sources its First UAS

Woolpert, an American geospatial, infrastructure management and design consulting firm, has purchased its first UAS, the Nova Block III, from partnering UAS firm Altavian. The Nova Block III is an all-electric system that collects high-resolution, accurate imagery with the capability to deliver data in real time. The system can collect 3D mapping as well as thermal, infrared and high-definition data, making it very suitable for surveying and mapping collection. Woolpert evaluated and tested a number of systems, and found Altavian’s best at meeting their needs and those of their clients, said Jeff Lovin, Woolpert senior vice president and director of... (read more)

2013-04-19 03:10:07

NASA Study Finds Glacier Doubling Its Speed

A NASA-funded study found that Greenland's largest outlet glacier, Jakobshavn Isbrae, has doubled its speed of ice flow between 1997 and 2003. The study used data from satellites and airborne lasers to derive ice movements. Synthetic aperture radar data from the Canadian RADARSAT and ESA’s ERS satellites were used to measure the glacier's velocity. Researchers tracked distinct features in NASA Landsat satellite image pairs to determine velocities. The study provides newly discovered relationships between ice sheets, sea level rise and climate warming. Jakobshavn Isbrae drains 6.5% of Greenland's ice sheet area. The increased ice flow into the ocean is important... (read more)

2005-03-10 12:00:00

GIOVE-B Transmitting its First Signals

Following a successful launch on 27 April, GIOVE-B has begun transmitting navigation signal on 7 May. This is a historic step for satellite navigation since GIOVE-B is now, for the first time, transmitting the GPS-Galileo common signal using a specific optimised waveform, MBOC (multiplexed binary offset carrier), in accordance with the agreement drawn up in July 2007 by the EU and the US for their respective systems, Galileo and the future GPS III. These GIOVE B signals, locked on-board to a highly stable Passive Hydrogen Maser clock, will provide higher accuracy in challenging environments where multipath and interference are present,... (read more)

2008-05-08 09:51:40

It’s All Go for a Mobile World

GITA 2005 ‘Crossing Boundaries’

Thousands of geospatial professionals took part in GITA 2005, the 28th annual conference of the Geospatial Information and Technology Association (GITA), held in Denver, Colorado from 5th to 10th March. The conference started with two days of in-depth seminars, followed by two days of educational sessions and concluded with User Group meetings for Oracle Spatial and Ten Sails Smallworld. As conference themes of general interest there were key presentations and seminars on critical infrastructure protection, mobile computing, web services, interoperability and standards, homeland security, return on investment, and enterprise integration. Opening and Awards GITA officially kicked off on Tuesday with... (read more)

2005-05-12 12:00:00

Trimble Extends its BIM-to-field Capabilities

Trimble (USA) has introduced the first integration of SketchUp file import capabilities into the Trimble Field Link layout software. By supporting model data from Tekla, Autodesk and now SketchUp, Trimble has extended its capabilities in bringing constructible Building Information Modelling (BIM) solutions from the office to the field. Recently acquired by Trimble from Google, SketchUp Pro is used by architects, general, steel and concrete contractors, and mechanical, engineering and plumbing (MEP) contractors to easily create 3D models for visualisation of residential and commercial building construction projects. The Trimble Field Link layout software is part of Trimble's construction layout solutions that... (read more)

2012-08-02 12:22:36

How Google Gave Geography its Groove Back

GIM International Interviews Ed Parsons

Once upon a time, the study of the Earth's surface, its features, inhabitants and phenomena was nothing more than a tiresome school subject for the average person on the street. Google has changed all that with its interactive map of the world. Stitched together from aerial and satellite footage, it has been downloaded more than 400 million times, with people and organisations putting it to all sorts of interesting uses, from spying on celebrities to locating the nearest hotel in a foreign city. We spoke to Ed Parsons, Google's geospatial technologist, to find out more about what lies ahead for... (read more)

2009-02-24 12:21:20

How Google Gave Geography its Groove Back

GIM International interviews Ed Parsons

Once upon a time, the study of the Earth's surface, its features, inhabitants and phenomena was nothing more than a tiresome school subject for the average person on the street. Google has changed all that with its interactive map of the world. Stitched together from aerial and satellite footage, it has been downloaded more than 400 million times, with people and organisations putting it to all sorts of interesting uses, from spying on celebrities to locating the nearest hotel in a foreign city. We spoke to Ed Parsons, Google's geospatial technologist, to find out more about what lies ahead for... (read more)

2009-03-03 12:00:00

Entergy Expands Its Implementation of Smallworld Geospatial Products

GE Energy (GA, USA) has announced that Entergy Corporation (LA, USA) has expanded its implementation of the Smallworld geospatial software product suite by selecting the Cornerstone Gas Productivity Pack for its Gas Division. Additionally, the company has upgraded its electric operations to the Smallworld Core Spatial Technology 4 application. Entergy will have the opportunity for significant cost savings by reducing custom code maintenance and creation through the Smallworld 4 Application Framework architecture (SWAF), providing fully supported, standardised spatial applications which can easily be accessed and reused in disparate business processes. Reusing existing code and selecting GE Energy’s Smallworld Cornerstone Gas... (read more)

2005-08-15 12:00:00

Nigeria Needs Federal Commitment to its Geodata Policy

GIM International Interviews Jide Kufoniyi

Nigeria has all the prerequisites to install an effective national geospatial data infrastructure (NGDI) from which all its 170 million inhabitants would benefit. The country has many educated professionals, a national policy concept, money, lots of projects, more and more data, etc. But what is missing is the will to make a conscious effort to implement an NGDI in order to facilitate coordination of the geospatial resources and provide easy access to data such as Earth observation images. So says Jide Kufoniyi, president of the African Association of Remote Sensing of the Environment and member of Nigeria’s National Geospatial Data... (read more)

2015-04-10 10:48:59