The World's First Digital Twin of a Polar Research Ship

Powered by NavVis technology, reality capture specialist DiConneX has created a fully interactive digital twin of the 'Polarstern', an iconic German polar research ship. In September 2019, the 'Polarstern' icebreaker – the flagship vessel of the Alfred Wegener Institute – launched the most extensive research expedition ever to the Arctic: the multidisciplinary MOSAiC project. (This story contains a video) The MOSAiC project expedition aims to better understand the influence of the Arctic on the global climate. For the duration of the project, scientists from 17 nations will live together for over a year on the Polarstern. The ship will stand frozen... (read more)

2019-12-20 09:16:32

EU-funded Project to Develop Digital Twin of Pilsen

A precise 3D computer model or ‘digital twin’ is being created of Pilsen (‘Plzen’), a mid-sized city with a strong brewing heritage and a population of around 165,000 in the Czech Republic. The partly EU-funded DUET project, aimed at boosting major events and tourism in the area, is expected to take three years. Digital Urban European Twins According to Veronika Cholinská speaking on behalf of the city of Pilsen's IT department, the digital 3D city model will serve a variety of purposes. For example, the city expects to use the 3D model in spatial planning to visualize and assess the... (read more)

2020-01-20 10:03:07

Esri Launches New Living Atlas Innovations to Revolutionise Digital Twin Technology

An interesting range of new uses for GIS around the world were celebrated at the 38th annual Esri User Conference in San Diego, California, held from 9-13 July. The Esri UC is a key global event for users of the company's technology who are changing their organisations as well as the world around them. One particular set of innovations showcased were updates to ArcGIS Living Atlas of the World, the foremost collection of geographic information from around the globe. These updates included new data and capabilities for users to gain unprecedented insights to help in decision-making as well as a more... (read more)

2018-08-06 09:11:55

Twin Galileo Satellites Ready For Launch

The twin Galileo satellites are fully fuelled and mated together atop the upper stage that will haul them most of the way up into their final orbit. The launch is now planned for the evening of 12 October 2012 from the European Space Agency’s French Guyana launch site. Technicians donned protective suits to fill the two satellites’ tanks with hydrazine fuel, used to maintain the satellites’ attitude and orbital position during their planned 12-year lifetime. Rather than carry a significant amount of extra fuel to insert themselves into their planned orbits – like typical telecommunications satellites or Galileo’s US GPS equivalents... (read more)

2012-10-02 09:11:35

Digital Norway

Co-operating to Up Geo-information Use

Digital Norway is a collaboration that is playing an important role in implementation of the national spatial data infrastructure in Norway. At the root of the infrastructure is a national geoPortal enabling access to geoinformation data and services owned by producers at national, regional and local level. A sophisticated internet application has been developed to facilitate regional access for a broad range of new GIS users. Technological development is today moving rapidly from desktop GIS towards distributed GIS, leading to increased use and new users and allowing realisation of the full potential for geo-information. Recognising these areas of potential growth... (read more)

2007-01-01 12:00:00

Digital Aerial Cameras

New Developments

The growing need for geo-data everywhere is driving customers to demand shorter turnaround rates and higher levels of detail. These needs can be met by aerial imagery directly captured in digital format onboard an aircraft. In tandem with the new product survey on Digital Aerial Cameras (see our website), the author here gives an overview of new developments. In my overview published in GIM International April 2008, I categorised the various digital aerial cameras under linear- and area-array solutions: one of many possible groupings for these systems. Another, based on technological criteria, considers dimension (size, weight and number of pixels... (read more)

2011-03-28 04:13:34

Digital Map of Trees

Bluesky has launched a digital map layer accurately modelling the location and extent of trees and their proximity to buildings. Designed to aid insurance assessors, property developers and Local Authority Planners, ProximiTREE details the exact spatial location and height of individual trees together with the circumference of its canopy. From this information a determination can be made of the root extent and the potential impact on either existing or proposed properties. Building subsidence is estimated to cost the insurance industry in excess of GBP500 million after each dry year and is usually the second most expensive insured peril after... (read more)

2009-07-02 04:27:02

Georover Digital Data Tracker

Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) announced its latest version of the GeoRover Digital Data Tracker geospatial software as extension or plug-in to Esri ArcGIS Desktop. The new Digital Data Tracker extension includes tools to leverage commercial global positioning system (GPS) receiver data and digital files (pictures, video clips) collected in the field from a variety of devices, automatically georeferencing this information over maps and imagery. Major new enhancements include the ability to import data from modern geotagging devices and upload geospatial data into a GPS receiver. The new extension also offers full support for importing and exporting the XML-based GPS... (read more)

2010-07-22 12:00:00

USGS Maps Go Digital

“US Topo” is the next generation of topographic maps from the U.S. Geological Survey. Digital US Topo maps are designed to look, feel, and perform like the traditional paper topographic maps for which the USGS is so well-known. However, in contrast to paper-based maps, US Topo maps provide technical advantages that support faster, wider public distribution and enable basic, on-screen geographic analysis for all users. “The public’s high regard for USGS topographic maps stretches over a century,” said Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar. “Because Survey maps consistently describe our nation’s entire landscape, they are the standard mapping reference for... (read more)

2009-12-21 08:31:38

Digital Map of Denmark

The full digital map of Denmark is available for commercial use. Denmark is the seventh Western European country for which the mapmaker has developed a navigation map. The map contains 140,000 kilometrers of roads and almost 7,000 cities and villages. AND is accelerating its efforts to fully map Western Europe, following an agreement made earlier this year with a large American online company, for the use of AND's maps of Western Europe. (read more)

2009-08-31 12:06:31