From the 2009 ESRI International User Conference last month, Dale Honeycutt and Shitij Mehtagive an overview of ModelBuilder. [1 hour 20 minutes]
Archive for August, 2009
ArcGIS Geoprocessing: ModelBuilder–An Introduction
In Conferences, ESRI, GIS, Modeling, Spatial Analysis, Video on August 31, 2009 at 9:01 amScience for All Seasons: Communicating Science to Diverse Audiences
In Science on August 27, 2009 at 4:08 pm
National Academies Communication Fair 2009
“On June 23, 2009 the National Academies Office of Communications, in cooperation with Staff Development Programs and the communications officers from the various program divisions here at the Academies, presented the third Communications Fair for National Academies staff.
“This year the fair featured an exciting new format with two panel discussions and a mid-day speaker to inspire new and creative ways to communicate science. We invite you to take part in what we’ve learned about communicating science by listening to podcasts of the events.”
Applying Advanced Technology for Threat Assessment: A Case Study of the BTC Pipeline
In GIS, Spatial Analysis on August 27, 2009 at 4:01 pm
…from the Journal of Energy Security…
“The study focuses on a risk analysis of the BTC pipeline and integrates state-of-the-art technologies for a comprehensive advanced security analysis (ASA) that includes critical issues such as the geographical and socio-political context along the BTC pipeline. This was addressed in the GIS (Geographical Information System) developed for purpose of integrating satellite imagery together with a number of map layers reflecting both physical and human factors along the BTC pipeline (road networks, topography, vegetation, population density, etc.).
“During the course of this analysis, the BTC pipeline was sabotaged by PKK insurgents in August 6th 2008. The geographical and socio-political factors of this sabotage have been weighted and extrapolated to the whole of the pipeline by a geospatial analysis on the GIS layers. As a result, the pipeline has been segmented into several degrees of risks which may prompt additional security actions as proposed in this paper.”
Predictive Archaeological Modeling Using GIS-Based Fuzzy Set Estimation
In ESRI, GIS, Modeling, Science on August 27, 2009 at 8:17 am
A Case Study of Woodford County, Kentucky
Authors: Bailey, Keiron; Grossardt, Ted H; Ripy, John; Mink, Philip; Shields, Carl; Davis, Dan; and Hixon, James
Transportation Research Board Annual Meeting 2009, Paper #09-2475
Abstract
“Analytic predictive archaeological models can have great utility for state Departments of Transportation, but it is difficult to model the likelihood of prehistoric settlement using geographical proxy predictor variables because of the complexity of how settlement choices were actually made, and the complex interaction between these variables using GIS. In many cases classic statistical modeling approaches require too much data to be useful. This research reports on a preliminary predictive model that combines spatial analysis and fuzzy logic modeling to capture expert archaeological knowledge and convert this into predictive surface. A test area was defined in Woodford County, Kentucky, and five influencing factors were defined and calculated using the ArcGIS platform. Points were sampled and probabilities estimated using both small and large group structured processes from a broad range of archeologists that fed a forward-backward fuzzy logic induction process. It was used to generate and refine a knowledge base that mapped all inputs to an output probability function. These data were extracted from the fuzzy logic model to a lookup table and then geocoded into the ArcGIS platform, generating output surfaces showing the probability of encountering artifacts across the entire study area. The predictive results were tested using a blind control protocol with known archaeological data and established model testing statistics. The six models delivered predictive efficiencies that equaled and exceeded comparable statistical predictive models while using a much smaller number of variables as inputs.”
Spatial Analysis Aids Pandemic Preparation
In GIS on August 26, 2009 at 7:45 pm…from The ISN Blog…
“As countries prepare for the expected swine flu surge this fall, the ISN is taking this week to examine how they’re steeling themselves for the possible rise in cases.
“In the ISN Special Report, Preparing for a Pandemic, Sara Kuepfer looks at the links between swine flu and globalization, while Shirya Malhotra suggests that visual and spatial analysis could help strengthen public health systems in the fight against the virus.”
Satellites Used to Predict Infectious Disease Outbreaks
In Imagery, Science, Spatial Analysis on August 26, 2009 at 7:37 pm…from Scientific American…
“From avian flu to cholera, infectious diseases may not be able to hide for long. Some researchers have their sights trained on predicting their every move with detailed satellite data.”
Environmental Protection Agency Maps Recovery Obligations and Outlays
In ESRI, Environmental Science, GIS on August 26, 2009 at 2:56 pm
Online GIS Application Shows where EPA Is Investing and How Much It Has Spent to Date
The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is using geographic information system (GIS) technology to show how it is administering its $7.22 billion allotment from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009. The ESRI ArcGIS Server software-based Web mapping application (click the link on http://www.epa.gov/recovery/map.html) shows total financial obligations and outlays by state. Once a state is selected, visitors can see how much money is going to State and Tribal Assistance Grants, Environmental Program and Management, the Leaking Underground Storage Tank Trust Fund, and Hazardous Substance Superfund.
“Providing this rich set of information to the public in an easy-to-use mapping application is one important way that we are operating in an open and transparent way,” says Jerry Johnston, geospatial information officer, EPA. “By allowing the public to see exactly how EPA’s ARRA funds are being disbursed in their states and, ultimately, in their neighborhoods, this application and the ones that will follow will help ensure an unprecedented level of accountability and transparency in the execution of these programs.”
EPA has used ESRI GIS technology for years to manage its geographic data and deliver information to the public. The EnviroMapper portal, for example, provides access to GIS-based applications that map data related to air, water, and land issues across the United States including EnviroMapper for Environmental Justice and EnviroMapper for the Toxics Release Inventory Program. Most recently, EPA added MyEnvironment to its home page, which allows visitors to input a location and discover detailed information in the specified area such as air quality, cancer risk estimates, and water conditions. MyEnvironment is powered by ArcGIS Server and uses Microsoft Bing Maps.
“GIS supports EPA’s mission to safeguard human health and the environment,” says ESRI president Jack Dangermond. “Using GIS for research, reporting, and decision making has allowed the agency to quickly respond to environmental events and keep the public informed and protected.”
Improving Spatial Analysis and Advancing Geographic Science in ArcGIS 9.4
In Conferences, ESRI, GIS, GIScience, Geography, Modeling, Science, Spatial Analysis, Statistics, Temporal Analysis on August 26, 2009 at 2:49 pm…adapted from Jack Dangermond’s plenary talk at the ESRI International User Conference in San Diego,California in July of 2009…
For me, spatial analysis is the heart of GIS. ArcGIS 9.4 makes a huge step forward in the sreas of spatial analysis and geographic science. Python, the open source scripting language that is rapidly becoming the accepted standard for scientific programming, is being integrating inside of ArcGIS. This will give you a great language to support geoprocessing and spatial analysis, and I think it will bring a lot of advances in geographic science. We’re also going to integrate other software packages for statistics, math, and modeling.
At 9.4 we are adding a lot of functionality such as fuzzy overlay modeling. We’re improving the math-algebra integration. We’re radically improving raster performance for analytic operations, especially on very large data cells. We’re integrating time. And we’re introducing an ecological sampling tool, which brings a lot of geostatistics into play. All of these are examples of extending the quantitative methods that we apply.
A good friend of mine once said, “For each new advance, each new technology, it’s both a technical advance but it’s also an advance in method.” And this science theorem really rings home here as we expand the analytic language of what we can do with geography.
Top Nine Favorite Innovations in ArcGIS 9.4
In Conferences, ESRI, GIS on August 26, 2009 at 12:11 pm
Each year at the International User Conference, detailed demonstrations present major new functionality in upcoming releases of ESRI software. ESRI’s John Calkins presedes these demos with a brief overview of his favorite innovations that won’t be covered in those more detailed demonstrations. Here are John’s “Top Nine Favorite Innovations in ArcGIS 9.4” as presented at the 2009 ESRI International User Conference in San Diego, California, in July.
9. User Interface. ArcGIS 9.4 presents a new user experience. The upgraded look includes dockable windows that can automatically hide. Also, a new Catalog window is embedded in ArcMap. We expect these and other underlying framework changes will greatly improve your productivity.
8. Attribute Tables. At 9.4, attribute tables are now displayed in a dockable window. You’ll see a new toolbar across the top, giving you easier access to the tools you need. And you can open multiple tables using the tabbed interface at the bottom.
7. Search. A new search capability complements the Add Data dialog. The new search tool allows you to type in search criteria and with subsecond response time locate the data you’re interested in. You can use special keywords like points, lines, polygons, or layer—to further refine your search.
6. Reporting. ArcGIS 9.4 includes a new reporting capability. A series of predefined templates makes it easier to make nice, formatted reports. Once you’ve created a report, you can now save the report so that you can later re-execute it with a different selected set.
5. Geoprocessing Tools. With ArcGIS 9.4, we’ve enhanced the customization capability so you have access to all the analysis tools. You can drag and drop the Buffer tool or a geoprocessing model onto a toolbar. There’s also a new geoprocessing option that allows you to enable background processing.
4. Table of Contents Views. The table of contents now supports multiple views. The Group By Visibility view organizes layers in your map into visible, scale range, or not visible groups, making it easier to work with complex maps with a lot of layers. It’s is a nice innovation to complement the traditional table of contents.
3. Symbol Search. To change symbols, you no longer have to browse through 20,000 different symbols looking for the right one, you can simply do a search. It is far more efficient to search for symbols than browsing through the multitude of symbols that are included with ArcGIS.
2. Temporal Mapping. ArcGIS 9.4 is becoming time aware, making it easier to make temporal maps with ArcGIS. There’s a new Time tab in the layer properties, as well as a new clock tool that allows you to set the display’s date and time.
1. Fast Basemaps. Prior to 9.4, when ArcMap updates the display, it redraws each layer sequentially. A new basemap layer in 9.4 enables continuous fast redraw.
Putting Global Warming On Trial?
In Climate Change on August 26, 2009 at 11:04 am
…from the Los Angeles Times…
“The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, trying to ward off potentially sweeping federal emissions regulations, is pushing the Environmental Protection Agency to hold a rare public hearing on the scientific evidence for man-made climate change.
“Chamber officials say it would be “the Scopes monkey trial of the 21st century” — complete with witnesses, cross-examinations and a judge who would rule, essentially, on whether humans are warming the planet to dangerous effect.”
Mapping Antarctica: Latest Satellite Imagery Brings Continent into High-Res Focus
In GIS, Geography, Imagery on August 26, 2009 at 10:12 am
…from The Antarctic Sun…
“Maps of Antarctica date back to when Roman geographer and astronomer Ptolemy envisioned a land in the southern hemisphere to counterbalance that in the north to satisfy an ancient sense of proportion. Terra Australis would remain terra incognita for more than 1,500 years, though that didn’t stop cartographers from drawing fanciful depictions of the southern continent, varying widely in size and location.
“Today, the average person can zoom across Antarctica with Google Earth. It’s even possible to download high-definition images of ice and mountaintops thanks to an International Polar Year External U.S. government site project that created a map mosaic of the continent from more than 1,000 satellite images — the Landsat Image Mosaic of Antarctica (LIMA) External U.S. government site. [See previous story: Getting on the map.]
“But Paul Morin knows those images and the maps created from them can get even better, practically proselytizing about a new promised land of high-resolution imagery in which one can literally count the boulders on the ground.”
Flexible Soil Model Maps Remote Areas
In ESRI, Environmental Science, GIS, Modeling, Science on August 26, 2009 at 9:56 am
…from Innovations Report…
“Soil scientists often face the dilemma of wishing to study soil in remote areas because they are ideal places to study soil formation and distribution under natural conditions, but mapping them requires a huge investment of time and resources. Computer-based models offer an efficient alternative. Researchers used ArcGIS geodatabase software to develop the Remote Area Soil Proxy (RASP) modeling technique to predict natural occurrence of soils in remote areas.
“Bruce Frazier and Richard Rupp of Washington State University and Toby Rodgers and Crystal Briggs of Soil Survey conducted this work in the Pasayten River watershed in north-central Washington. Their results are reported in the summer issue of Soil Survey Horizons. Data were collected from dominant landscape facets accessible by or near trails, and soil formation was modeled using surrogates for the soil forming factors.”
The Need for Comprehensive 3D City Models
In Design, GIS, Modeling on August 26, 2009 at 9:51 am
Stu Rich has a new post on his Spatial Explorations blog titled “The Need for Comprehensive 3D City Models (Part 1)“. Here’s an excerpt:
“On my recent trip to Vancouver to speak at the GeoWeb 2009 conference, however, I was inspired by Thomas Kolbe’s work on CityGML to think more about collections of buildings and how they work together in an urban environment. As we move to this city and regional scale, the level of granularity at which we model our buildings has big implications on scalability, performance, and the tool sets that we use for visualization and analysis. For the purposes of our discussion here, let’s define a “City” is a reasonably large collection of buildings in a condensed area. This city might be a traditional municipality like Philadelphia or Chicago, it might be a military city like Langley Air Force Base, or it might be a college campus like Boston University.”
Looking forward to reading Part 2, Stu!
Third International Conference on Cartography & GIS: 15-20 June 2010, Nessebar, Bulgaria
In Conferences, GIS, Imagery, Visualization on August 26, 2009 at 9:40 am
Conference topics include:
- Early Warning and Crises Management
- Planetary Cartography
- Marine Cartography
- Cartographic Visualization
- Remote Sensing Technologies
University of Arkansas gets DOE Grant for Water Resource Simulation Model
In Education, GIS, Modeling on August 26, 2009 at 9:34 am…from New Technology Magazine…
“The Office of Fossil Energy’s National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) has selected nine new projects targeting environmental tools and technology for shale gas and coalbed methane (CBM) production. NETL’s goals for these projects are to improve management of water resources, water usage and water disposal, and to support science that will aid the regulatory and permitting processes required for shale gas development.
“University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, Ark.—The ultimate goal of this project is to develop a water management decision-support system by modifying and integrating a state-of-the-art water resource simulation model with a modern enterprise geographic information system (GIS). This will provide a science-based tool that can be used to support development of energy resources in the Fayetteville Shale region of Arkansas. (DOE share: $636,467; recipient share: $179,517; duration 24 months)”
Spatial Analysis Aids Relocation of Javanese Rhino
In Environmental Science, Spatial Analysis on August 26, 2009 at 9:20 am…from The Jakarta Post…
“The study was aimed at assessing the geology, soil type and proximity to water in order to find suitable areas for the planned relocation of the Javanese rhino.
“The proposed areas are adjacent to Gunung Honje, Gunung Halimun, Masigit Kareumbi and Leuweung Sancang, all of them close to the Ujung Kulon area on the western tip of Java Island.
““The spatial analysis suggests there is good possibility of an area on the Ujung Kulon peninsula and on Gunung Hone suitable for the Javan rhino,” the study said.”
Washington Department of Ecology Takes Geospatial Services to the Next Level
In ESRI, Environmental Science, GIS on August 25, 2009 at 3:21 pmThe Washington Department of Ecology and ESRI signed a comprehensive enterprise license agreement (ELA) in June. The ELA provides the department with access to all required ESRI ArcGIS software and builds on a strong, longtime relationship between ESRI and the department, which is aiming to strengthen program delivery by extending the functionality of the ArcGIS platform throughout the entire organization at a time when resources are limited.
The ELA enables the Department of Ecology to continue to build its enterprise services within existing budget constraints. It will also help the department save time on procurement and applications development, release, and deployment. The agency uses geographic information system (GIS) tools and procedures as aids in accomplishing its mission of protecting the land, air, and waters of the state and supporting its geographic approach to environmental management.
“For more than 20 years, ESRI has been our partner in the delivery of geospatial solutions,” says Dan Saul, GIS manager for the agency. “The ELA takes our partnership to the next level and will allow our agency to concentrate more on the delivery of geospatial services to our customers and spend less time on administrative overhead.”
The Washington Department of Ecology has been a leader in the state for building GIS services such as Location Finder, a Web service for geoprocessing to assist applicants for environmental permits. The ELA will enable the agency to expand application development in asset management and operational awareness with a focus on providing agency staff and the public with access to more relevant geospatial information.
“The Washington Department of Ecology has been at the forefront of GIS technology utilization, with its sustainable vision, active executive leadership, and dynamic organizational structure,” says Dr. Robin Smith, ESRI manager for environment, marine, and coast. “We are confident that what has been done here is a replicable model for other environmental organizations in reaching their goals through a geographic approach.”
According to the terms of the ELA, the department can deploy ESRI’s ArcGIS platform of desktop, server, Web, and mobile solutions as required to meet their needs. Also included in the ELA are subscriptions to the ESRI Enterprise Advantage Program (EEAP), the ESRI Developer Network (EDN), training and support, and complimentary registrations to the ESRI International User Conference.
The EEAP subscription will support the Department of Ecology with an assigned technical advisor, an annual GIS strategy and account review, and learning and services credits for general consulting work and training.
ESRI has a New Home for its Learning Center
In ESRI, Education, GIS on August 25, 2009 at 3:19 pm
…from the Redlands Daily Facts…
“One of Redlands’ largest employers just put a new face on an old building that’s now ready for business.
“Environmental Systems Research Institute (ESRI) opened the doors recently of its new Learning Center. Architects renovated a building more than half a century old and transformed it into a modern facility where ESRI customers can go to learn to use the software the company develops.”
ESRI Software Users Invited to Tell Their GIS Story at 2010 International User Conference
In ESRI, GIS on August 25, 2009 at 3:14 pmDeadline for User Presentation Abstract Submissions Is October 16, 2009
Professionals using ESRI’s GIS technology are encouraged to submit an abstract for possible presentation at the 30th Annual ESRI International User Conference (ESRI UC) next July. ESRI invites users to tell their GIS story by sharing their experiences with GIS and presenting during a moderated session. The ESRI UC is the world’s largest GIS conference, providing the best forum for the global ESRI user community to communicate their innovative projects. The deadline for abstract submissions is October 16, 2009.
“Being a presenter means conveying valuable information to your peers; it’s almost like becoming colleagues,” says ESRI president Jack Dangermond. “The sharing of best practices, lessons learned, and advice—the discussion and collaboration that take place during these sessions—gives others a chance to learn from your challenges and successes. Be influential, build your network, become partners, and great things will stem from your conference experience.”
The overarching user session categories of industry, science and modeling, and technology contain tracks relevant to both the public and private sectors such as business GIS, education, transportation, health and human services, climate change, ecology and conservation, system implementation, technology integration, and data publishing, to name a few. The wide range of presentation topics each year attracts users from across the globe who want to gain specific, real-world GIS knowledge and skills.
From presentation room equipment and Internet access to the on-site Speaker Coaching Lab, ESRI also offers tools and resources for presenters to have a successful presentation. Matt Keeling, a GIS analyst from the City of Riverside, California, says, “Presenting was very memorable. And it was great to have help from the Speaker Coaching Lab.”
The 2010 ESRI UC will be held July 12–16 at the San Diego Convention Center in California. Authors submitting an abstract are asked to choose a session track that best fits their presentation; visit our Web site to learn more and view the submission guidelines. Abstracts can be submitted at www.esri.com/ucpapers.
GeoTweeters – ArcGIS Silverlight Client
In ESRI, GIS, Geography on August 21, 2009 at 11:43 am
This application was demonstrated as part of the GIS and Web 2.0 Application Development Demo Theater for the ESRI UC 2009.
The sample illustrates how to:
1. Integrate the ArcGIS Silverlight API with Twitter
2. Geocode your friends with Bing asynchronously
3. Use control templates and animation in XAML
4. Construct point and line graphics
5. Consume WCF services
Requirements
1. Bing maps developer account ID and password
2. Twitter account
3. ArcGIS API for Microsoft Silverlight
4. Visual Studio 2008 SP1
5. Silverlight ver 2.0 or 3.0
Set-up
View ReadMe.doc for instructions.
Open Source
To contribute or extend this application, please visit the http://geotweeters.codeplex.com project hosted on Codeplex.
Research Positions Open for Work on Bio-Resource Ecology and Climate Change in the Sikkim, Himalayas
In Climate Change, Education, Environmental Science, GIS, Imagery, Social Science on August 21, 2009 at 9:43 am
Several long-term research positions are available as part of a Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Government of India, funded project on “Technological Innovations and Ecological Research for the Sustainable Use of Bioresources in Sikkim”. The project is jointly implemented by the National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS) (Tata Institute for Fundamental Research, http://www.ncbs.res.in), Bangalore, and the Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment (ATREE) (http://www.atree.org), Bangalore.
We seek qualified, highly motivated candidates for various research and technical positions at the Junior Research Fellow (JRF), Senior Research Fellow (SRF), Post-Doctoral Fellow levels, and in GIS/Remote Sensing. The research positions can potentially lead to a PhD based at the two institutions. All salaries will be in accordance with DBT specified norms.
The areas of research encompass both basic and applied ecology and include the mapping and monitoring of faunal and floral biodiversity, field and laboratory measurements of biodiversity and ecosystem services (carbon, hydrology, pollination, bio-resources) and their response to climate change, and work on sustainable use of bio-resources by local communities. Investigators on the project include Dr. Robert John (forest ecology), Dr. Jagdish Krishnaswamy (hydrology & landscape ecology), Dr. Soubadra Devy (pollination ecology) and Mr. Suman Rai (bioresource management) from ATREE, and Dr. Mahesh Sankaran (community ecology), Dr. Ajith Kumar (small-mammal ecology), Dr. Suhel Quader (behavioural and population ecology) and Dr. Uma Ramakrishnan (conservation genetics) from NCBS.
Candidates with backgrounds in life sciences, botany, zoology, geo-sciences, ecology, environmental science, social sciences and remote sensing/GIS and with demonstrated field experience and interest in working in Sikkim and the Northeastern India will be considered. Depending on the position, laboratory work in Bangalore will be combined with field measurements and observations in Sikkim. The GIS/RS position will be based in Bangalore. Short-listed candidates will be interviewed by project Scientists in Bangalore or Sikkim.
Interested candidates should send their CV and statement of interest by email to: sikkimdbt@ncbs.res.in. Applications will be reviewed until suitable candidates are found.
With regards,
Dr. A. Kumaraguru,
Project Post-Doctoral Fellow, Dr. Shivaji Group, Uppal Road, CCMB – LaCONES, Hydrabad.
Award Winning Book by Hanan Samet Details Spatial Data Indexing Processes
In GIS on August 21, 2009 at 9:37 am
In his latest book, Foundations of Multidimensional and Metric Data Structures, Hanan Samet, renowned authority on this topic, presents a comprehensive view of spatial data structures and indexing that includes some of his own major algorithms, as well as those of other computer scientists. He is considered an expert on the use of hierarchical data structures such as the quadtree, which is often used to partition a two-dimensional space by recursively subdividing it into four quadrants, thereby providing a means to index the data that they span.
The book is the result of Samet’s longtime research at the University of Maryland’s Computer Vision Laboratory investigating the applicability of his work to geographic information systems, computer graphics, image processing, image databases, and visualization. The book also addresses algorithmic issues arising in applications such as the display of point cloud data, finding nearest neighbors in spatial networks, and similarity searching for use in image databases.. It was an award winner in the 2006 best book in Computer and Information Science competition from the Professional and Scholarly Publishers Group of the American Publishers Association.
Comments Samet, “When multidimensional data corresponds to locational data, we have the additional property that all of the attributes usually have the same unit (possibly with the aid of scaling transformations), which is distance in space. We can therefore combine the distance-denominated attributes and pose queries that involve proximity.”
In the Foreword to the book Jim Gray at Microsoft Research writes, “This book organizes the bewildering array of spatial and multidimensional indexing methods into a coherent field. Hanan Samet is the dean of ‘spatial data indexing.’ His two previous books have been the essential reference works for over a decade. This book unifies those previous books, and places
the field in the broader context of indexing and searching for information in any metric space.”
Xuejun Hao, Associate Research Scientist at Columbia University, writes “The most complete book on the subject to date. In addition, to the huge amount of information covered, it also contains a thorough bibliography with over 2000 entries. The author uses an algorithmic approach with plenty of pseudo-code without resorting to complicated mathematical formulae….The book is easily accessible to a wide range of readers who need not be programmers or computer scientists.”
At the Computer Vision Laboratory Samet leads a number of research projects on the use of hierarchical data structures in GIS. His research on the integration of spatial and nonspatial data into a DBMS has resulted in the development of two systems by his research group: QUILT, a GIS based on spatial data structures such as quadtrees and octrees, and SAND (Spatial And Non-spatial Data), which integrates spatial and non-spatial data and enables browsing through a spatial database using a graphical user interface.
He has also been developing the STEWARD (Spatio-Textual Extraction on the Web Aiding the Retrieval of Documents) system, a spatio-textual document search engine that enables the retrieval of documents on the basis of spatial proximity as well as matching keywords, and which has been used for documents of the research division of the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Foundations of Multidimensional and Metric Data Structures: The Morgan Kaufmann Series in Computer Graphics is published by Morgan Kaufmann, ISBN-13: 978-0123694461, 2006, 1024 pages, and is available from Elsevier for $64.95.
GIS/Geospatial Industry Worldwide Growth Slows to 1% in 2009
In ESRI, GIS on August 21, 2009 at 8:29 am
Industry CEO Sentiment Strongly Upbeat for 2010 and Beyond
GIS/Geospatial industry worldwide growth is forecast to slow to 1%, down from 11% in 2008 and a whopping 17.4% in 2007 according to a just released study by Daratech, Inc., a Cambridge, Massachusetts market research firm. However, industry CEOs interviewed by Daratech were unanimous in their belief that growth consistent with the robust 11% cagr of the past six years would return in 2010.
North America has not been as adversely affected by the downturn as the rest of the world due to the on-going needs of homeland security and continuing investment in GIS, by the public sector. Growth in North America is forecast by Daratech to top 2.1%, more than twice the growth in Asia Pacific and five times the growth in Europe where investment in GIS/Geospatial technology has been hurt more severely by the current downturn as many European governments have cut back their geospatial technology purchases in anticipation of lower tax collections.
Perhaps the most dramatic slowdown in 2009 was in the private sector, which is forecast to shrink to $1.4 billion, down 0.7% from 2008. This downturn echoes the general pull back of the private sector from major additional investments in new IT technologies. At the same time public sector sales are expected to grow 4.1% to almost $957 million in 2009 reflecting this sectors continuing deployment of GIS technologies to all the services it offers.
In the Traditional GIS segment ESRI continues to have a dominant 30% market share, up from 29% in 2008 according to Daratech. Lead by its iconic president Jack Dangermond, ESRI has been a benchmark for new GIS technologies, philosophies and direction for the entire industry for more than 20 years, and indications are that it will continue to be so, says Daratech. Intergraph, the second largest player in the traditional segment is forecast by Daratech to have a 16% market share in 2009, up from 15% in 2008. Intergraph is remaking its entire business around a GIS philosophy, and as a GIS service provider Intergraph is likely to become even stronger in the years ahead. Third ranked is GE Energy, which is the market leader in the utilities market where it is forecast to have a 24% market share.
In the larger GIS/Geospatial market that includes data, geo-enabled engineering, GPS, photogrammetry and remote sensing MDA has a leading 21.8% share of the market. MDA’s strength is geospatial and engineering services for imaging, GIS, geology, weather and defense. The company’s sales are mostly to the homeland security and defense markets. ESRI, is second with a 15.7% share and Bentley Systems, the leading supplier of GIS/Geospatial AEC market software and services (where it has a 42.1% market share) is third. Bentley has frequently made the running in the geo-enabled engineering applications market and continues to demonstrate strong leadership in this area. However, Bentley can expect stronger competition from Autodesk, Intergraph and ESRI in the coming years, as this segment of the market may show greater than average growth, says Daratech.
Just released, Daratech’s study GIS/Geospatial Markets & Opportunities includes more than 1500 charts that cover both the private and public market segments for the years 2004 through 2009. It is available for purchase on Daratech’s web site.
Research Analyst – Spatial Analysis Position, University of Canterbury
In Education, Environmental Science, GIS, Science, Social Science, Spatial Analysis on August 21, 2009 at 8:16 am
The GeoHealth Laboratory, Department of Geography, University of Canterbury invites applications for a Research Analyst (Spatial Analysis). This is a three-year fixed term position based in the Health and Disability Intelligence (“HDI”) Unit (part of the Ministry of Health) in Wellington and is available immediately.
The GeoHealth Laboratory is a joint venture between the University of Canterbury (UC) and the New Zealand Ministry of Health. A number of academic staff, postdoctoral researchers, research fellows and postgraduate students who are based in or affiliated with the GeoHealth Laboratory help in providing a supportive research environment. The GeoHealth Laboratory staff are committed to undertaking policy-relevant health research and have a strong track record of publication in high quality peer reviewed journals, as well as regular contributions to various policy documents and media pieces. For further information about the lab see www.geohealth.canterbury.ac.nz/.
The successful applicant will have training and research experience in health and medical geography, public health, social epidemiology and/or related discipline. Combined with strong GIS skills and good quantitative and analytical skills developed through their graduate career including at least 1-2 year relevant GIS work experience.. The appointee will be expected to perform a variety of tasks including: undertaking key GIS and spatial data analyses; providing a level of GIS and research support to staff at the HDI Unit; contributing to various health-related research projects; and contributing to the writing and dissemination of research outputs through peer reviewed publications, conferences and workshops.
Closing Date: 2 September 2009
Location: Wellington
What Is The Geographic Approach?
In ESRI, GIS, Geography, Science on August 21, 2009 at 8:10 am
…new article by Jim Baumann and myself in the August issue of ArcWatch…
“Perhaps you’ve heard ESRI president Jack Dangermond mention The Geographic Approach. It’s a phrase he often uses to describe his high-level vision for using geospatial technology as a key method in finding answers to problems.”
Best Science Visualization Videos of 2009: Seasonal CO2 Buildup and Reduction in North America
In Climate Change, Earth Systems Science, Modeling, Science, Video, Visualization on August 21, 2009 at 7:49 am…from Wired Science…
“Some of the most impressive images in science are produced when researchers take numerical data and represent it visually through modeling and computer graphics. The Department of Energy honored 10 of this year’s best scientific visualizations with its annual SciDAC Vis Night awards, at the Scientific Discovery through Advanced Computing conference (SciDAC) in June. Researchers submitted visualizations to the contest, and program participants voted on the best of the best. From earthquakes to jet flames, this gallery of videos and images show how beautiful (and descriptive) visual data can be.
“Here we see how levels of carbon dioxide build up in North America during the winter months and then drop during the summer. Plants convert carbon dioxide into organic compounds using the energy from sunlight, so changes in the amount of sunlight create seasonal differences in carbon dioxide levels. Data for this video was collected by NASA’s Goddard Earth Observing System Model, Version 5 (GEOS-5), which is a system of models designed to collect earth science data for climate and weather prediction.
“Image: DOE SciDAC Program/Jamison Daniel and David Erickson”
Rising Ocean Acidity Erodes Alaska’s Fisheries
In Climate Change, Environmental Science on August 21, 2009 at 7:48 am
…from Scientific American…
“New research from the University of Alaska Fairbanks suggests Arctic oceans are already seeing the effects of acidification, with potentially dire consequences to Alaska’s rich crab and salmon fisheries.”
Global Artisanal Fishery Data Available
In GIS on August 21, 2009 at 7:47 am
As part of the study A Global Map of Human Impact on Marine Ecosystems by Benjamin S. Halpern et al., published in Science on 15 February 2008, global artisanal fishery data has been generated by the National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis and can be downloaded in a raster format here.”
Students Study Glacier Sciences on Alaskan Icefield
In Environmental Science, GIS, Geography, Science on August 21, 2009 at 7:46 am
…from Capital City Weekly…
“Most Alaskans spend their summers soaking up as much of the seasonal warmth as possible, but since 1946 crews of icefield researchers have been doing just the opposite. The Juneau Icefield Research Project (JIRP), begun under the direction of Dr. Maynard Miller, has given students from all over the world the opportunity to study glacier sciences in nature’s classroom while trekking across the pristine landscape of the Juneau Icefield. Today, JIRP continues to train many of the world’s leading glacier researchers.
“Once a partnership is established, JIRP will undergo a process of elevating the its level of technology, including digitizing data records, developing geospatial information files to share with the worldwide science community, upgrading weather stations and accessing satellite imagery.”
Do People Really Walk in Circles?
In Science, Spatial Analysis on August 20, 2009 at 1:09 pm…from Scientific American…
“Yes, people do really walk in circles—but only when stripped of important visual clues, such as the sun or moon, according to a paper published online today in Current Biology.
“To test the common wisdom, Jan Souman, a research scientist at the Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics, and his team sent test subjects out into a German forest and the Sahara Desert to see if they could follow directions to walk in a straight line—some on sunny days others on cloudy days or at night. Subjects were monitored via GPS over the course of hours (and followed by an experimenter for safety).”
Willie Smits: How We Re-grew a Rainforest
In Environmental Science on August 20, 2009 at 11:36 am“By piecing together a complex ecological puzzle, biologist Willie Smits has found a way to re-grow clearcut rainforest in Borneo, saving local orangutans — and creating a thrilling blueprint for restoring fragile ecosystems.“
Smits, trained as a forester, has also founded a university in Indonesia; trained hundreds of forestry PhD students; and runs a forestry research center and remote sensing field station, Samboja Lestari, where he and his colleagues have been working since 2002—restoring a tropical rain forest from a parched grassland area using an integrated agroforestry and native plant development strategy.
Willie Smits is a respected conservationist and educator devoted to preserving habitat for orangutans. His dedication to the primates led Smits to establish Borneo Orangutan Survival (BOS). This remarkable group has international chapters and operates the largest “shelters” and orangutan rehabilitation areas in the world. In addition, he has focused on addressing the root social causes of orangutan habitat loss, giving local workers alternatives to short-term forest exploitation. To learn more about Smits’ orangutan conservation efforts, visit Orangutan Outreach and TED.
In 2007, his Masarang Foundation opened a palm-sugar factory that uses geo-thermal energy to process the daily tapped sugar palm juice of thousands of traditional palm tappers into sugar and ethanol, providing cash and power to the community—moving toward a better future for the people, forest, and native orangutans, while saving 200,000 trees per year from being cut down as fuel wood.
“My lifelong goal is to save as much as possible from our global environment for future generations by providing real-life examples of harmonious living in balance with nature. I also believe that we cannot save the environment if we do not simultaneously take care of the people’s needs.”
GIS in Polar Regions
In Books, Climate Change, Earth Systems Science, Environmental Science, GIS, Science on August 20, 2009 at 10:01 am
ESRI has released a new GIS Best Practices e-book titled “GIS in Polar Regions.”
Stories in this new e-book include:
- Amongst the Icebergs, GIS Innovation Aids Antarctic Research
- Scientific Research Uses GIS in the McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica
- Access Antarctica: The New Zealand Antarctic GIS
- Long-Term Environmental Monitoring at McMurdo Station, Antarctica, Supported With GIS
- Mapping the Ayles Ice Shelf Break
- Traditional Knowledge Meets New Tools
Best Science Visualization Videos of 2009: A Simulated 7.8 Earthquake in Southern California
In Modeling, Science, Video, Visualization on August 20, 2009 at 9:19 am…from Wired Science…
“Some of the most impressive images in science are produced when researchers take numerical data and represent it visually through modeling and computer graphics. The Department of Energy honored 10 of this year’s best scientific visualizations with its annual SciDAC Vis Night awards, at the Scientific Discovery through Advanced Computing conference (SciDAC) in June. Researchers submitted visualizations to the contest, and program participants voted on the best of the best. From earthquakes to jet flames, this gallery of videos and images show how beautiful (and descriptive) visual data can be.
“This visualization illustrates some of the rupture and wave propagation phenomena of a magnitude 7.8 earthquake on the San Andreas fault in Southern California. It shows how an earthquake originating 60 miles south of Palm Springs can end up shaking Los Angeles, Ventura and Santa Barbara minutes after the original fault rupture. The animation captures more than four minutes of complex dynamic rupture and wave propagation. Nearly 12 terabytes of earthquake simulation data was used to generate the animation.
“Video: DOE SciDAC Program/Amit Chourasia, Kim Olsen, Steven Day, Luis Dalguer, Yifeng Cui, Jing Zhu, David Okaya, Phil Maechling and Thomas H. Jordan”
Adding Layers of Skills to a Science Background
In Education, Science on August 20, 2009 at 8:55 am
…from the New York Times…
“In good times or bad, the pace of technological change never seems to let up. This relentless engine of innovation, economists agree, is the wellspring of the nation’s long-run prosperity. But it presents a daunting challenge to science and technology professionals who are trying to stay ahead, seeking a career that is unlikely to become outsourced, automated or obsolete.
“The sour economy has only intensified those pressures. So colleges across the country are reporting a surge in applications since last fall, up as much as 50 percent, for continuing education programs intended for people with science and engineering backgrounds. The offerings, in classroom settings and online, range from short courses of a few days to graduate degree programs that span years.”
Scientists Create First Three-dimensional Global Map of Electrical Conductivity in Earth’s Mantle
In Earth Systems Science, Geography, Science on August 20, 2009 at 8:50 am
As tags on household appliances warn, water conducts electricity extremely well. Now, scientists have found that enhanced electrical conductivity in parts of Earth’s mantle may signal the presence of water far below our planet’s surface.
The researchers created the first global three-dimensional map of electrical conductivity in the mantle. Results of their study are published this week in the journal Nature.
The areas of high conductivity coincide with subduction zones–places where tectonic plates are being subducted beneath the Earth’s crust, say the Oregon State University (OSU) scientists who performed the research. They used electromagnetic induction sounding of the Earth’s mantle in the study. The method is very sensitive to interconnecting pockets of fluid in rocks and minerals.
“This work is important because it complements global 3-D seismic imaging of Earth’s interior, which uses sound waves generated by earthquakes,” said Robin Reichlin, program director in the National Science Foundation (NSF)’s Division of Earth Sciences, which funded the research. “Scientists may be able to combine these two methods to tease out a more detailed understanding of variations in Earth’s inner composition, water content and temperature.”
Subducting plates are comparatively colder than surrounding mantle materials and should be less conductive, geologists have believed. However, the OSU scientists suggest, conductivity in these areas may be enhanced by water drawn downward during the subduction process.
“Many earth scientists thought that tectonic plates are not likely to carry much, if any, water deep into the Earth’s mantle,” said Adam Schultz, a geologist at OSU and a co-author of the Nature paper. “Our model, however, clearly shows a close association between subduction zones and high conductivity. The simplest explanation is water.”
The study provides new insights into the fundamental ways in which our planet works, Schultz says. Despite advances in technology, scientists are still unsure how much water lies beneath the ocean floor–and how much of it makes its way into the mantle.
The implications are myriad. Water interacts with minerals differently at different depths, and small amounts of water may change the physical properties of rocks, alter the viscosity of materials in the mantle, assist in the formation of rising plumes of melted rock, and ultimately affect what flows out on the surface.
“In fact, we don’t really know how much water there is on Earth,” said Gary Egbert, an oceanographer at OSU and co-author of the paper. “There is some evidence that there is many times more water below the ocean floor than there is in all the oceans of the world combined. Our results may shed some light on this question.”
There may be different explanations for how the water–if indeed the conductivity is reflecting water–got there.
“If it isn’t being subducted down with the plates,” Schultz said, “is it primordial, down there for four billion years? Or did it come down as the plates slowly subduct, suggesting that the planet may have been much wetter a long time ago? These are fascinating questions for which we don’t yet have answers.”
Anna Kelbert, a post-doctoral researcher at OSU and lead author of the paper, says that the next step is to replicate the experiment with newly available data from both ground observatories and satellites, then conduct further research to better understand the water cycle and how its interaction with deep-Earth minerals works.
Ultimately, the scientists hope to produce a model quantifying how much water may be in the mantle, locked up in its rocks.
Their work is also supported by NASA.
Managing Disasters with High-Tech Imaging could Save Lives
In GIS, Imagery on August 19, 2009 at 1:14 pm
…from PhysOrg.com…
“Improving disaster response is one of the goals of the Information Products Laboratory for Emergency Response, a partnership between Rochester Institute of Technology and the University at Buffalo. The collaboration will foster research to improve disaster mitigation planning, real-time response and recovery efforts, and to create potential business opportunities for industry.
“The incubator, funded with $600,000 from the National Science Foundation, will focus on technology, policy and business-development and bring together university researchers, private sector service and product providers, and emergency response decision makers.”
Post-Doctoral Research Assistant: CUNY-Environmental Crossroads Initiative
In Education, Environmental Science, GIS, Modeling, Science, Spatial Analysis, Statistics on August 19, 2009 at 1:09 pm
The CUNY Environmental Cross-Roads Initiative at City University of New York seeks a post doctoral assistant to collaborate on interdisciplinary synthesis research to understand the widespread alteration of hydrologic systems over local-to-regional domains focusing on the Northeast corridor of the United States over a 500-year period (1600 to 2100). The position requires primary research into this question using a variety of approaches including modeling, statistical and/or geospatial analysis. Work will emphasize the development of a ‘digital library’–an interdisciplinary geophysical, environmental, and social science spatial data infrastructure focused on the northeast United States region. Historical and contemporary datasets related to hydrology, geology, geomorphology, economics, sociology, ecology, etc., to inform this project. Scenarios 100-years into the future will also be executed.
The position will involve close interaction with a Synthesis Working Group drawn from several collaborating institutions to study regional watersheds and linked human-water processes, and to serve as a test-bed for ideas on how to optimally execute research synthesis in the water sciences.
This position is supported for a 2-year period by a research grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) and will enable the successful candidate to work within the context of a major national effort to forward hydrological sciences under the aegis of the Consortium of Universities for the Advancement of Hydrological Science (CUAHSI). Under the routine supervision of a Senior RF Research Associate or designee, performs simple to moderately complex research, investigation, or analytic activities as part of the research team; works under varying degrees of supervision depending on the scope and complexity of the project. Assists in planning meetings, conferences, web-based communication etc. Writes abstracts. Follows protocols for gathering data, coding data or information, constructing data bases using specified technology, analyzing data, maintaining data security, and archiving data as needed. Keeps accurate, well organized data records; performs the duties of lower level positions as needed; also performs other duties as assigned. Ability to make clear, accurate observation in writing and orally; to take direction and work as part of the team as well as independently; Ability to work cooperatively with other researchers and with students.
Salary:$52,000 to $58,000
Core Competencies/Qualifications
A recent PhD in Earth System Science, Hydrology, Biogeochemistry, Landscape Ecology, or related field, with extensive experience in GIS, data infrastructure development and management, computer programming and/or modeling. Experience in research project management is desired. Capacity to work in a large and diverse team at several professional levels (from students through senior academic and agency scientists). Applicants should attach: curriculum vitae; statement of research interests; contact information of three references.
GIS for Early Detection and Response to Infectious Disease
In Books, ESRI, GIS, Science on August 19, 2009 at 11:45 am
ESRI has released a new GIS Best Practices e-book titled “Early Detection and Response to Infectious Disease.”
Successful understanding and response to infectious disease outbreaks depend greatly on the ability to consider the surrounding context. Disease spreads geographically, and interventions occur in relation to human, institutional, climatic, and other kinds of landscapes. Because GIS technology relates many kinds of data to geographic location, it excels in tracking not only disease spread but also laboratory specimen and medical supply whereabouts, hospital bed availability, testing facility proximity, vulnerable population locations, and medical personnel distribution. Built-in GIS analysis tools provide effective early warning systems and preparedness programs that generate meaningful information that public health officials need to make effective decisions—at the community, national, and global levels.
During an outbreak, GIS provides tools that speed the collection of accurate field data. Complex statistical and other analyses applied with GIS technology provide relevant information to support sound decisions. GIS analysis can, for example, locate a potential disease hot spot and calculate a nearby hospital’s ability to handle the expected increase in service demand if an outbreak should occur.
Application stories in this new e-book include:
- GIS Application for Early Detection Tracks Hospital-Reported Symptoms
- Spatial Analysis Gives Insight into Source of Legionnaires’ Disease
- GIS Empowers Emergency Response and Public Health Awareness
- Health and Human Services Tracks Stockpile Shipments on the Web
- Tracking SARS in China With GIS
- Consolidation of Information Makes Vector Control Data
- Accessible and Reduces Costs in New Zealand
- Down-to-Earth Approach Jumpstarts GIS for Dengue Outbreak
Quote of the Day
In Quotes, Statistics on August 19, 2009 at 5:07 am“Statistics prove that you can prove anything with statistics.”
–Evan Esar
GIS: Niche Technology Goes Mainstream
In ESRI, GIS, Interviews on August 18, 2009 at 3:27 pm
…from Computerworld…
“I spoke with Dangermond, ESRI’s president, for a Computerworld profile of Dangermond that ran in print. What got left out? An important discussion about why business GIS goes way beyond what you see with Google Maps, how GIS is solving a wider array of business problems, and how mash-ups with GIS and ERP systems are resulting in new applications that add a very visual, spatial dimension to business decision making. Dangermond thinks GIS has the potential to become another key pillar in the IT infrastructure.”
Design Principles for the GeoWeb
In Design, GIS on August 18, 2009 at 2:23 pmThe City of Greeley, Colorado shares some design principals that increase GeoWeb presence. This was presented during the Lightning Talks session at the 2009 ESRI International User Conference.
Geography Prof. Receives President’s Leadership Fund Award
In Climate Change, Education, Environmental Science, GIS, Geography, Imagery on August 18, 2009 at 2:18 pm
“Department of Geography professor Douglas Stow, an internationally recognized leader in remote-sensing analysis of terrestrial environments, has been named one of the recipients of The President’s Leadership Fund Awards for Faculty and Staff Excellence.
“Stow says he’ll use his award to seed or augment projects. For example, he plans to process and analyze 10 years of satellite data from the North Slope of Alaska to assess whether snow is melting earlier and shrubs are expanding within Arctic tundra lands.”
Video: ArcGIS Desktop 9.4 Geoprocessing Models
In ESRI, GIS, Modeling, Video on August 18, 2009 at 6:46 amThis video demonstrates how to use ArcGIS Desktop 9.4 Geoprocessing Models for tracking needs, such as search and rescue applications.
Marble-Boyle Undergraduate Achievement Awards in Geographic Science
In ESRI, Education, GIS, Scholarships on August 17, 2009 at 2:57 pmApplication deadline October 15, 2009
The Association of American Geographer’s Marble Fund for Geographic Science is pleased to announce the 2010 Marble-Boyle Undergraduate Achievement Awards. These awards promote and recognize excellence in academic performance by undergraduate students in the United States and Canada who bridge geographic science and computer science in their studies. These awards, together with the William L. Garrison Award for Best Dissertation in Computational Geography, are sponsored by the Marble Fund and are supported by donations to the Fund. In the case of the current awards, the support of Mr. Jack Dangermond and Mrs. Grace Boyle is gratefully acknowledged.
The undergraduate awards are named for Dr. Duane Marble, creator of the Marble Fund, and for the late Dr. A. R. (Ray) Boyle who was a major Canadian contributor to the early development of both computer cartography and geographic information systems. Winners of the 2009 awards were Joanna Merson of the University of Victoria and Kenneth Robertson of Central Michigan University. Both worked as ESRI Interns during the Summer of 2009 and Ms. Merson will spend the fall in Switzerland as the winner of the supplemental MicroGIS Foundation for Spatial Analysis (MFSA) fellowship.
For more details about the award including applications and eligibility rules please see the AAG website at: http://www.aag.org/grantsawards/marble_boyle.htm
Quote of the Day
In Quotes on August 17, 2009 at 2:37 pm“Google is giving you more intelligence than anyone in the history of the world. But, you’re idiot savants because you don’t know how to apply the information in an ethical and moral way.”
–Brad Allenby, Arizona State University
Neighborhood Food Environment, Walkability, and Obesity in NYC
In ESRI, GIS, Science, Spatial Analysis, Statistics on August 17, 2009 at 8:09 am
…from MedScape Today…
“Density of BMI-healthy food outlets in New York City: Kernel Density Estimation (KDE) map illustrating the density of BMI-healthy food outlets. This KDE continuous surface was created with ArcGIS Spatial Analyst (ESRI, Redlands, CA), which uses a distance decay quadratic kernel function. Input processing parameters included a half-mile bandwidth and 1,545 discrete points representing the locations of supermarkets, fruit and vegetable markets, and natural food stores.”
- Read the article [registration required]
Tracking and Spatial Analysis of Sex Offender Movements
In ESRI, GIS, Modeling, Spatial Analysis on August 17, 2009 at 7:24 am
…from corrections.com…
“The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) has begun tracking more than 6,000 sex offender parolees by using global positioning system (GPS) anklets. Sex offender parolees are allowed to travel only through certain areas and must keep away from other people. The GPS device lets parole agents know when parolees are somewhere they should not be by logging GPS coordinates every minute and sending coordinates to a central server every 10 minutes. This information about parolee location is compared to law enforcement incident data through crime-scene correlation reports. Regular e-mail reports keep analysts notified of any incidents that are close to an offender’s tracks in time and space. The features are accessible through an online mapping application, and analysts can review a parolee’s GPS data for up to 4 hours at a time, or view data in real time (with a 15- minute delay).
“Keeping track of parolees’ movements can take a lot of time and law enforcement resources. Law enforcement and parole agencies need a way to sum vast amounts of spatial behavior and coordinate it with related crime information. Environmental Systems Research Institute’s (ESRI) Modelbuilder and the kernel density tool are essential for analysts who track and analyze sex offender movement data.”
GIS Offers a Visual Tour of Stimulus Funds
In ESRI, GIS, Visualization on August 17, 2009 at 7:18 am
…from Computerworld…
“Do you wonder exactly where all of that federal stimulus money is being spent? GIS tools let you literally map out where in the U.S. those American Recovery and Reinvestment Act dollars are landing – and where the need is greatest.
“So, how well do they match up? The 12 maps in the White House’s Roadmap to Recovery report show where the funds are going, but those need overlays aren’t presented. GIS tools can provide graphical accountability. Wouldn’t it would be nice, for example, to see an overlay of unemployment data on this map showing where ARRA money is being spent to hire youth?”
Jack Dangermond’s Digital Mapping Lays It All Out
In ESRI, GIS, Science on August 17, 2009 at 7:09 am
…from Investors Business Daily…
“Jack Dangermond wants to shape a better understanding of the world.
“The multibillion-dollar industry he helped found around geographic information systems, or GIS, helps scientists and planners visualize and analyze data on maps.
“With his firm’s help, epidemiologists can see how disease spreads, disaster officials can predict storm damage, and civil engineers can tell how development will affect traffic.
“Four decades back, multilayer computer mapping was mainly a novel project in college labs. He saw its possibilities and built a business, ESRI, that spurred GIS use around the world.”
Salazar Releases Long-Term Report Detailing Glaciers Shrinking in Alaska and Washington
In Climate Change, Geography, Science on August 17, 2009 at 6:56 am
A report on long-term glacier measurements released today by Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar shows that glaciers are dramatically changing in mass, length and thickness as a result of climate change.
Over the past 50 years, U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) scientists have monitored the melting of Alaska’s Gulkana and Wolverine Glaciers and Washington’s South Cascade Glacier, yielding the longest such records in North America.
“This report we are releasing today is great example of the science and data our Department has gathered over the past 50 years,” said Secretary Salazar. “This information is helpful in tackling the effects of climate change and it is exactly the kind of science we need to invest in to measure and mitigate the dangerous impacts of climate change.”
Glacier shrinkage has global impacts, including sea level rise that threatens low-lying and coastal communities. Smaller glaciers will also result in a decrease of water runoff, and impacts are especially important during the dry late summer when other water sources are limited.
“There is no doubt that most mountain glaciers are shrinking worldwide in response to a warming climate. Measuring changes in glacier mass provides direct insight to the link between glaciers and climate, ultimately helping predict glacier response to anticipated climate conditions,” said USGS scientist Edward Josberger.
The three glaciers monitored in this study are known as benchmark glaciers. They are widely spaced, represent different climate regimes, and can be used to understand the thousands of other glaciers in nearby regions.
USGS scientists study glacier behavior during different seasons, including summer melt and winter snow accumulation, as well as their response to both short and long term climate variations. This allows for more detailed insight regarding how and when the climate is changing.
“In addition to these three glaciers, more than 99 percent of America’s thousands of large glaciers have long documented records of an overall shrinkage as climate warms,” said USGS scientist Bruce Molnia. “Many people are surprised to learn that a few glaciers are thickening and advancing. These glaciers are responding to unusual and unique local conditions, including having large, high elevation areas where snow accumulates. Except for these anomalous few , most of America’s glaciers are shrinking and these exceptions emphasize how natural variability is an inherent part of a complex Earth system.”
You can view a video of South Cascade Glacier aerial photos from 1928 to 2006 at the USGS Washington Water Science Center Web site.
For more information on this study of glacier change in Washington and Alaska, visit Fact Sheet 2009-3046, Fifty-Year Record of Glacier Change Reveals Shifting Climate in the Pacific Northwest and Alaska, USA.
More information about the USGS Benchmark Glacier Program can be found online.
Video: ArcGIS Spatial Analyst Overview
In ESRI, GIS, Modeling, Spatial Analysis, Video, Visualization on August 17, 2009 at 6:56 amThis video shows how the ArcGIS Spatial Analyst dynamic modeling, advanced visualization, and statistical analysis tools can help you analyze your data to make more informed decisions.
Video: Advanced Planning and Analysis with ArcGIS 9.3
In ESRI, GIS, Modeling, Spatial Analysis, Video on August 16, 2009 at 6:57 amSee a complete workflow using ModelBuilder, stepping through the initial creation of a model and the benefits of using the model, to the execution of advanced spatial analysis. Easily disseminate results to a wider audience using a simple Web mapping application.
Part 1
Part 2
Planet Action Grants: Submit your Project by September 30, 2009
In Climate Change, Environmental Science, GIS, Geography, Grants, Imagery on August 14, 2009 at 10:22 am
Planet Action provides satellite imagery, geographic information and technology support to local projects that investigate and assess climate change issues focusing on human issues, drought & desertification, water resources, forestry, biodiversity, oceans, ice, and awareness.
This year, Planet Action will support additional projects while following up on current projects and their results on the ground.
Submit your project by September 30, 2009.
Eligibility and Selection Criteria
Planet Action supports projects involved at least in one of the following domains:
- Awareness
- Biodiversity & Conservation
- Drought & Desertification
- Human Issues
- Forest & Deforestation
- Ice & Snow
- Oceans & Coastlines
- Water Resources
To be eligible for support from Planet Action, projects must:
- Deal with a climate change related issue and propose a course of actions.
- Deal with at least one of the Planet Action “domains”.
- Have a member of the organization who resides in the country where the project takes place or at least during the duration of the projects
- Be proposed by a non-profit organization such as NGO’s, a public laboratory or a university.
- Confirm that the project has no commercial, religious or ideological content or objective.
New Version of ArcGIS Explorer Now Available
In ESRI, GIS, Visualization on August 14, 2009 at 7:57 am
ArcGIS Explorer Makes It Easy to Share Geographic Information with a Broad Audience
ESRI’s newest release of ArcGIS Explorer became available for free download today, providing a highly visual and intuitive way to explore, share, and present your geographic information. It is an ideal means of making your authoritative geographic information system (GIS) data available to people who are not GIS experts.
ArcGIS Explorer is a GIS visualization tool that connects directly to a variety of ready-to-use ArcGIS Online basemaps and layers and enables users to add their own map services or local data. It can also be extended with users’ existing geoprocessing tools. ArcGIS Explorer is designed to work directly with maps and layers authored using ArcGIS Desktop and published via ArcGIS Server or shared using layer packages.
“This release introduces some very big features,” says Bern Szukalski, ArcGIS Explorer product manager. “We’re always learning from users what they want and need, and we have incorporated some compelling new features as a result. These include the ability to access shared maps, layers, and tools directly from ArcGIS Online; support for layer packages that enable ArcGIS Explorer to leverage state-of-the-art ArcGIS Desktop cartography; the ability to use maps in 2D or 3D; and presentation tools that let users share their geographic knowledge and communicate geographically.”
ArcGIS Explorer now has an intuitive and easy-to-use ribbon interface, giving users the ability to manage and organize tools and content. New tools provide an easy way to tailor applications to specific audiences or needs. Also included is a new integrated 2D and 3D display, which makes switching between 2D and 3D modes as simple as a mouse click.
Developers can use the software development kit (SDK) to build custom add-ins to extend the ArcGIS Explorer capabilities. Users can access continually updated basemaps and layers from ArcGIS Online, including Bing Maps for Enterprise imagery, streets, and hybrid layers. The new version also includes improved support for KML/KMZ files and “regionated” KML.
Since presentations are an important part of conveying ideas, this version of ArcGIS Explorer includes new presentation tools. Users can now create compelling slide shows within the ArcGIS Explorer environment. The tools allow presenters to pan, zoom, and interact with maps and data in a visually dynamic way.
To download ArcGIS Explorer, visit www.esri.com/arcgisexplorer. Users outside the United States should contact their ESRI international distributor (www.esri.com/distributors).
Using GIS and Satellites to Study Lyme Disease
In Education, GIS, Imagery, Science on August 14, 2009 at 7:47 am
Six University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) students and two students from other universities are using satellite imagery to identify possible habitats in Alabama for the black-legged tick that carries and transmits Lyme disease.
The students are interns with the NASA-Marshall Space Flight Center DEVELOP Program. DEVELOP is a competitive internship in which students work with NASA and partner-agency scientists to carry out innovative research projects.
GeoTech 2009 Conference: October 5–6, Silver Spring, Maryland USA
In Conferences, GIS, GIScience, Imagery, Science on August 14, 2009 at 7:46 am
The Potomac Region of the American Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing is pleased to announce the 16th annual GeoTech: The Premiere Mid-Atlantic Imagery and Geospatial Conference, exploring “Geospatial Infrastructure: Looking to the Future” on October 5-6, 2009. The two-day event features a day of Workshops led by experts and a day of Technical Sessions. Co-hosted by the National Geodetic Survey (NGS) of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), GeoTech 2009 will be held at NOAA’s Auditorium and Science Center in Silver Spring, MD.
The GeoTech 2009 Conference will provide workshops covering Terrain Mapping, Fundamentals of Automated Feature Extraction (AFE), Accessing and Processing Public Domain Landsat Data, and An Overview of Airborne and Terrestrial Data Sources for Disaster Response. The Technical Program will include sessions on Coastal Mapping Applications, Sensors and Systems, and Spotlight on Emerging Issues.
Mr. Ernie Reith, Deputy Director of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency’s (NGA) InnoVision Directorate, will give the Keynote address.
Continuing Education Credits will be offered for those professionals requiring recertification.
Representatives from the Geospatial industry will be on-hand to exhibit their latest tools and offerings.
Details, registration, and contact info are available at: http://www.asprspotomac.org/geotech09/. On-line registration ends Noon EST 2nd October 2009.
ArcGIS Integration with ENVI Geospatial Imagery Processing and Analysis Software
In ESRI, GIS, Imagery, Video on August 14, 2009 at 7:45 amSick Fish May Get Sicker: Climate Change and Other Stresses Expected to Affect Entire Populations of Fish
In Climate Change, Geography, Science on August 14, 2009 at 7:45 amEntire populations of North American fish already are being affected by several emerging diseases, a problem that threatens to increase in the future with climate change and other stresses on aquatic ecosystems, according to a noted U.S. Geological Survey researcher giving an invited talk on this subject today at the Wildlife Disease Association conference in Blaine, Wash.
“A generation ago, we couldn’t have imaged the explosive growth in disease issues facing many of our wild fish populations,” said Dr. Jim Winton, a fish disease specialist at the USGS Western Fisheries Research Center. “Most fish health research at that time was directed toward diseases of farmed fish.”
In contrast, said Winton, recent studies in natural aquatic systems have revealed that, in addition to being a cause of natural death, infectious and parasitic fish diseases can produce significantly greater mortality in altered habitats leading to population fluctuations, extinction of endangered fish, reduced overall health and increased susceptibility to predation.
In addition, said Winton, populations of certain fish species have suffered catastrophic losses after non-native diseases were first introduced into a water body. Examples include whirling disease in the intermountain west and the recent introduction of viral hemorrhagic septicemia in the Great Lakes.
“The scientific community is increasingly concerned that global trade, extensive habitat alteration, accumulations of contaminants and other human-caused stresses stressors, including climate change, will affect the distribution or severity of fish diseases and contribute to increasing population-scale losses in these important natural resources,” Winton said.
Disease is often ignored as a factor affecting wild populations of fish and wildlife because the effects are difficult to observe and quantify, noted Winton. But as cold-blooded animals, fish are highly dependent on environmental conditions, especially temperature, to help maintain critical physiological processes such as immune function that can affect whether a fish gets a disease or parasite, how it is affected by it, and how the disease progresses.
In particular, said Winton, some fish – such as salmon, trout and muskellunge – have a fairly narrow range of water temperatures they can live in. “If that temperature is exceeded over a period of time, not only may die-offs occur, but also, the increased stress and altered immune function will lead to greater levels of infectious or parasitic diseases which is why global warming is of particular concern.
Winton said that increased scientific recognition of fish diseases as a potential population-limiting factor in wild populations of fish is partly the result of the emergence of high-profile diseases such as whirling disease in wild-spawning rainbow trout in the Rocky Mountain West, viral hemorrhagic septicemia in the North Pacific Ocean and the Great Lakes, and a fungal-like disease, ichthyophoniasis, in adult Chinook salmon in the Yukon River.
The 58th annual meeting of the Wildlife Disease Association (WDA) was held August 2-7, 2009, in Blaine, Wash. The theme was Wildlife Health from Land to Sea: Impacts of a Changing World. This press release was based on a paper being presented on Aug. 3 at the conference by USGS scientist Dr. Jim Winton, “The ecology of emerging diseases among populations of wild fish.”
Colorado State Forest Service: GIS in the Field
In Conferences, ESRI, Environmental Science, GIS, Video on August 14, 2009 at 7:44 am“Addressing Field Needs of the Colorado State Forest” was presented during the Lightning Talks session at the 2009 ESRI International User Conference.
GeoDesign: A Bibliography
In Design, GIS on August 13, 2009 at 11:30 amThe concepts of “GeoDesign” grew out of discussions over the potential of integrating design more fully into GIS, and over the development of curriculum in spatial thinking.
Anselin, L. (2008) Spatial Thinking, Exploratory Spatial Data Analysis and Design. Santa Barbara, California: Specialist Meeting on Spatial Concepts in GIS and Design, December 15-16, 2008.
Artz, M. (2009) GIS Enters the Design Space. Redlands, California: ArcWatch, June 2009.
Artz, M. (2009) GIS and Global Design. GISandScience.com blog, 04 June 2009.
Ball, M. (2009) Dangermond on GIS and Design. Spatial Sustain blog, 17 June 2009.
Ball, M. (2009) Dealing with a Rapidly Changing Planet. Spatial Sustain blog, 13 July 2009.
Ball, M. (2009) GeoDesign Promises a More Planned Future. V1 Magazine, 26 July 2009.
Ball, M. (2010) Goodchild on the Yin and Yang of GIS. Spatial Sustain blog, 06 January 2010.
Ball, M. (2010) GeoDesign as a Return to the Potential of GIS. Spatial Sustain blog, 06 January 2010.
Ball, M. (2010) Ferren Asserts that GeoDesign is the Next Storytelling Medium. Spatial Sustain blog, 07 January 2010.
Ball, M. (2010) Steinitz Discusses Different Design Approaches. Spatial Sustain blog, 07 January 2010.
Ball, M. (2010) GeoDesign Provides the Basis for a New Language. Spatial Sustain blog, 07 January 2010.
Ball, M. (2010) GeoDesign Challenge to Spur Meaningful Work. Spatial Sustain blog, 08 January 2010.
Ball, M. (2010) The Inclusive Push for GeoDesign. Spatial Sustain blog, 08 January 2010.
Ball, M. (2010) The Fresh Start that GeoDesign Offers. Spatial Sustain blog, 10 January 2010.
Ball, M. (2010) Vancouver Embodies GeoDesign. Spatial Sustain blog, 12 January 2010.
Ball, M. (2010) Avoid Thinking of GeoDesign as a Manifestation of the Singularity. Spatial Sustain blog, 13 January 2010.
Batty, M. (2008) Design as a Growth Process Represented Through GIS. Santa Barbara, California: Specialist Meeting on Spatial Concepts in GIS and Design, December 15-16, 2008.
Batty, P. (2009) Shakespeare on GeoDesign. Geothought blog, 17 September 2009.
Batty, P. (2009) Jack Dangermond on GeoDesign. Geothought blog, 07 October 2009.
Baumann, J. (2009) Interview: Carl Steinitz on GIS and Design. GISandScience.com blog, 16 September 2009.
Dangermond, J. (2009) GIS: Designing Our Future. Redlands, California: ArcNews, Summer 2009.
Dangermond, J. (2009) The Vision of a Purposefully Designed Future. Redlands, California: ArcUser, Fall 2009.
Dykes, J. (2008) GeoVisualization, GIS and Design. Santa Barbara, California: Specialist Meeting on Spatial Concepts in GIS and Design, December 15-16, 2008.
Entchev, A. ( 2010) GeoDesign 2010 and Beyond. The ENTCHEV GIS blog, 06 January 2010.
Ervin, S. (2008) To what extent can the fundamental spatial concepts of design be addressed with GIS? Santa Barbara, California: Specialist Meeting on Spatial Concepts in GIS and Design, December 15-16, 2008.
Fabrikant, S.I. (2008) Spatial Concepts in GIS and Design. Santa Barbara, California: Specialist Meeting on Spatial Concepts in GIS and Design, December 15-16, 2008.
Fee, J. (2010) Thoughts on the GeoDesign Summit. Spatial Adjusted blog, 09 January 2010.
Fisher, T. (2008) Spatial Thinking and Design Thinking: Similarities and Differences. Santa Barbara, California: Specialist Meeting on Spatial Concepts in GIS and Design, December 15-16, 2008.
Fisher, T. (2010) Monday Minute, January 11, 2010. University of Minnesota College of Design, 11 January 2010.
Gersmehl, P. (2008) Spatial Concepts in GIS and Design. Santa Barbara, California: Specialist Meeting on Spatial Concepts in GIS and Design, December 15-16, 2008.
Goodchild, M. (2008) Spatial Concepts in GIS and Design. Santa Barbara, California: Specialist Meeting on Spatial Concepts in GIS and Design, December 15-16, 2008.
Grossner, K.and Janelle, D. (2008) spatial@ucsb: Perspectives for Teaching and Research. Santa Barbara, California: Specialist Meeting on Spatial Concepts in GIS and Design, December 15-16, 2008.
Howarth, J. (2008) Understanding Purposive Space with GIS. Santa Barbara, California: Specialist Meeting on Spatial Concepts in GIS and Design, December 15-16, 2008.
Hurt, I. (2008) Design? Santa Barbara, California: Specialist Meeting on Spatial Concepts in GIS and Design, December 15-16, 2008.
Kemp, K. (2008) Thoughts from 20 years of developing “curricula” for GIS. Santa Barbara, California: Specialist Meeting on Spatial Concepts in GIS and Design, December 15-16, 2008.
Longley, P. (2008) To what extent are the fundamental spatial concepts that lie behind GIS relevant in design? Santa Barbara, California: Specialist Meeting on Spatial Concepts in GIS and Design, December 15-16, 2008.
Miller, W. R. (2008) Geo-Spatial Design. Santa Barbara, California: Specialist Meeting on Spatial Concepts in GIS and Design, December 15-16, 2008.
Orland, B. (2008) Information for design: Interacting environmental systems in space and time. Santa Barbara, California: Specialist Meeting on Spatial Concepts in GIS and Design, December 15-16, 2008.
Roche, S. (2008) Towards a “Leonardo da Vinci approach” of GIS for Spatial Design. Santa Barbara, California: Specialist Meeting on Spatial Concepts in GIS and Design, December 15-16, 2008.
Schutzberg, A. (2010) ESRI Geodesign Summit Day 1 AM. All Points blog, 06 January 2010.
Schutzberg, A. (2010) ESRI Geodesign Summit Day 1 PM. All Points blog, 07 January 2010.
Schutzberg, A. (2010) Jack Dangermond’s Research Vision for #Geodesign Parallels that for GIS. All Points blog, 07 January 2010.
Schutzberg, A. (2010) Tidbits from the Geodesign Summit. All Points blog, 07 January 2010.
Schutzberg, A. (2010) ESRI Geodesign Summit Day 2 PM. All Points blog, 07 January 2010.
Schutzberg, A. (2010) ESRI Geodesign Summit Day 2 AM. All Points blog, 07 January 2010.
Schutzberg, A. (2010) Geodesign Summit Day 3 AM. All Points blog, 08 January 2010.
Schutzberg, A. (2010) GeoDesign Summit Reflections. Directions magazine. 14 January 2010.
Steinitz, C. (2008) On Scale and Complexity and the Need for Spatial Analysis. Santa Barbara, California: Specialist Meeting on Spatial Concepts in GIS and Design, December 15-16, 2008.
Sui, D. (2008) From “GIS for Design” to “Design for GIS”: Preliminary thoughts on designing a curriculum for spatial thinking. Santa Barbara, California: Specialist Meeting on Spatial Concepts in GIS and Design, December 15-16, 2008.
Szukalski, B. (2010) ArcGIS Online as a substrate for GeoDesign (and more). ArcGIS Online blog, 11 January 2010.
Talen, E. (2008) Linking Space and Place: A Methodology for Geospatial Design. Santa Barbara, California: Specialist Meeting on Spatial Concepts in GIS and Design, December 15-16, 2008.
Thurston, J. (2008) What is spatial design, and how can it be applied to sustainability problems? Vector One blog, 05 December 2008.
Thurston, J. (2009) Are Geospatial Tools Design Tools? Vector One blog, 29 January 2009.
Thurston, J. (2010) Putting Your Finger on the Spatial Pulse of Design. Vector One blog, January 14, 2010.
Vargas-Moreno, J.C. (2008) SPATIAL DELPHI: Geo-Collaboration and participatory GIS in Design and Planning. Santa Barbara, California: Specialist Meeting on Spatial Concepts in GIS and Design, December 15-16, 2008.
New e-book: GIS in the Social Sciences
In Books, ESRI, GIS, Social Science on August 13, 2009 at 10:29 am
ESRI has published a new e-book in its “GIS Best Practices” series of case studies. “GIS Best Practices: Social Sciences” features the following stories:
- Social Sciences: Interest in GIS Grows
- Pinpointing the Languages of the World with GIS
- Spatial Analysis Optimizes Malaria Prevention Measures
- Preserving the World’s Dying Languages with GIS
- Spatial Patterns of Disease Inspire New Ideas on Possible Causes
- What Historians Want from GIS
- Bringing Foster Care Management into the 21st Century with GIS
- Archaeology, Genealogy, and GIS Meet at Columbia Cemetery
- Ghana Project Leverages GIS-Based Title Registration and Microfinance to Alleviate Poverty
- Mapping Hunger with GIS
Spatial Analysis of Contaminated and Unused Land for Biofuel Crop Potential
In Green Technologies, Spatial Analysis on August 13, 2009 at 7:40 am…from physorg.com…
“…to maximize energy output, biofuel processing plants need to be strategically located near cropland. The team used spatial analysis to demonstrate how to find ideal locations for processing plants and how biofuel plots could be planted to maximize the contaminated water they receive.”
Water Quality Atlas uses ArcGIS Server 9.3
In Conferences, ESRI, Environmental Science, GIS, Video on August 13, 2009 at 7:30 am“Lytle is Vital Watershed program” was presented during the Lightning Talks session at the 2009 ESRI International User Conference.
Using GIS to Study Greenroof Capacity
In Climate Change, Education, Environmental Science, GIS, Science on August 13, 2009 at 7:29 am…from ScienceDaily…
[T]he plants on greenroofs can absorb … water – “like a sponge being saturated,” says Olyssa Starry, a graduate student at the University of Maryland at Baltimore County. Starry studied a greenroof atop a Baltimore building in comparison to a similar building without a greenroof to determine how well the roof would absorb water from frequent storms. By measuring water flowing out of building downspouts, she found that the greenroof retained from 30 to 75 percent of water from storms, compared to a negligible amount retained by the building with no greenroof.
Although her results are preliminary, Starry thinks that cities can reap benefits from making greenroofs a part of their building requirements, as cities like Toronto and Berlin have recently done. Using GIS satellite imagery, she estimated the number and area of buildings that could hold greenroofs within one watershed in the Baltimore area. If all these roofs were greened, she says, the city could save the watershed 8 million gallons of water per year, or about 10 percent of its yearly water loss.
Spatial Analysis and Fuel Savings
In Conferences, ESRI, GIS, Green Technologies, Spatial Analysis, Video on August 13, 2009 at 7:29 amLearn how building inspectors from the City of Ft. Collins, TX, used ArcLogistics to optimize routes and work schedules to realize savings of almost $1 million annually. This video was recorded at the 2008 ESRI International User Conference.
New Imagery Enhancements in ArcGIS 9.4
In Conferences, ESRI, GIS, Imagery, Video on August 13, 2009 at 7:28 amThis video demonstrates new imagery enhancements that will be available in ArcGIS 9.4.
Letter Report on the Orbiting Carbon Observatory
In Books, Climate Change, Environmental Science, Science on August 12, 2009 at 1:12 pm…from the Committee on Methods for Estimating Greenhouse Gas Emissions; National Research Council…
A National Research Council committee is conducting a study on how well greenhouse gas emissions can be measured for treaty monitoring and verification. The committee’s analysis suggests that NASA’s Orbiting Carbon Observatory (OCO), which failed on launch in February 2009, would have provided proof of concept for spaceborne technologies to monitor greenhouse gas emissions, as well as baseline emissions data. This letter focuses on the capabilities of an OCO and currently deployed satellites that measure atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) and their potential role in monitoring and verifying a greenhouse gas treaty.
India Launches Geoportal
In GIS, Geography, Visualization on August 12, 2009 at 1:10 pm
India today launched a geoportal which enables the user to easily access information on basic natural resources in the geospatial domain, particularly the Indian images and thematic information in multiple spatial resolutions. The “ Bhuvan” whose beta version was launched by Minister for Science and Technology and Earth Sciences, Shri Prithviraj Chavan in New Delhi at a function organized by Astronautical Society of India , showcases Indian images by the superimposition of the Indian Remote Sensing (IRS )satellite imageries on 3D globe. Several leading Scientists including Member Planning Commission, Dr. K Kasturirangan, Dr. G Madhavan Nair who is also the Chairman, ISRO/ Secretary, Department of Space, Secretary, DST, Dr. T. Ramasami, Secretary, Ministry of Earth Sciences, Dr Shailesh Nayak, former Chairman of ISRO, Prof. UR Rao, DG IMD, Dr. Ajit Tyagi witnessed the moment which opened the door to graphic visualization of digital geospatial India.
Bhuvan which can be accessed at http://bhuvan.nrsc.gov.in, displays satellite images of varying resolution of India’s surface, allowing users to visually see things like cities and important places of interest looking perpendicularly down or at an oblique angle, with different perspectives and can navigate through 3D viewing environment. The degree of resolution showcased is based on the points of interest and popularity, but most of the Indian terrain is covered up to at least 6 meters of resolution with the least spatial resolution being 55 meters from AWifs Sensor.
Thus, Bhuvan represents, in essence, the whole India on your computer. It enables user to fly from space to street level, to grab, spin and zoom down to any place. One can also use Bhuvan to learn more about geography, and use Bhuvan layers to study natural resources, demographics, and transportation in specific contexts. It provides tools for measuring, drawing, saving, printing and most importantly, for visualizing thematic information.
Visualization of Southern California Earthquakes, 1932 – 2008
In ESRI, Environmental Science, GIS, Science, Video, Visualization on August 12, 2009 at 9:54 amProduced with ArcGIS Explorer, this animation shows all earthquakes of magnitude 3 or greater in the Southern California area between 1932 and 2008. Data from USGS.
Data Visualization for Environmental Stewardship
In Conferences, ESRI, Environmental Science, GIS, Video, Visualization on August 12, 2009 at 8:36 am“Data Visualization for Environmental Stewardship at MSU: using the ArcGIS Flex API Application” was presented during the Lightning Talks session at the 2009 ESRI International User Conference.
Which Geospatial Technologies Will 3D GIS Impact ?
In GIS, GIScience on August 12, 2009 at 8:35 am
…from Jeff Thurston at Vector One…
“Many geospatial technologies will be impacted by three and four dimensional geographic information systems (3D GIS). Some technologies like global positioning systems (GNSS), remote sensing and laser based technologies will enjoy a thrust forward as new forms of data capture, management, analysis and representation are supported through thinking about applications in 3D. Visualisation will be significantly impacted because 3D and 4D analysis will propell new representations into the limelight. We are truly entering a new phase of exploration and discovery in the geospatial sector.”
Visualization of Thermal Pollution from a Nuclear Plant
In Environmental Science, Imagery, Video, Visualization on August 12, 2009 at 8:34 amThis video animates a series of thermal infrared LANDSAT images that visualize what a year of thermal pollution from Oyster Creek Nuclear Generating Station looks like. The pink represents temperatures above ambient levels. The imagery was provided by the Center for Remote Sensing and Spatial Analysis at Rutgers University, and was produced by the Environmental Health Clinic.
Large Trees Declining in Yosemite
In Climate Change, Geography, Science on August 12, 2009 at 8:33 amLarge trees have declined in Yosemite National Park during the 20th century, and warmer climate conditions may play a role.
The number of large-diameter trees in the park declined 24 percent between the 1930s and 1990s. U.S. Geological Survey and University of Washington scientists compared the earliest records of large-diameter trees densities from 1932–1936 to the most recent records from 1988–1999.
A decline in large trees means habitat loss and possible reduction in species such as spotted owls, mosses, orchids and fishers (a carnivore related to weasels). Fewer new trees will grow in the landscape because large trees are a seed source for the surrounding landscape. Large-diameter trees generally resist fire more than small-diameter trees, so fewer large trees could also slow forest regeneration after fires.
“Although this study did not investigate the causes of decline, climate change is a likely contributor to these events and should be taken into consideration,” said USGS scientist emeritus Jan van Wagtendonk. “Warmer conditions increase the length of the summer dry season and decrease the snowpack that provides much of the water for the growing season. A longer summer dry season can also reduce tree growth and vigor, and can reduce trees’ ability to resist insects and pathogens.”
Scientists also found a shift to fire-intolerant trees in some forests that had not experienced fires for nearly a century. In these areas, trees changed from fire-tolerant ponderosa pines to fire-intolerant white fir and incense cedar. In burned areas, however, pines remained dominant.
“We should be aware that more frequent and severe wildfires are possible in Yosemite because of the recent shift to fire-intolerant trees in unburned areas and warmer climates bring drier conditions,” said van Wagtendonk.
This research was published in Forest Ecology and Management and can be found online (PDF).
4th Nordic Summer School in Geographic Information Science
In Education, GIS, GIScience, Science on August 12, 2009 at 8:31 amAlexander Nossum has blogged in detail about the recently completed 4th Nordic Summer School in Geographic Information Science, which was held 3 – 7 August 2009 in Gävle, Sweden.
Three New Papers about NeoGeography
In GIS, Geography on August 12, 2009 at 8:13 am
The latest issue (Volume 2, Issue 3 2009) of the Journal of Location Based Services features three papers about NeoGeography (asbtracts below), as well as an editorial on the same subject (no abstract available).
“NeoGeography and the nature of geographic expertise” by Michael Goodchild
NeoGeography has been defined as a blurring of the distinctions between producer, communicator and consumer of geographic information. The relationship between professional and amateur varies across disciplines. The subject matter of geography is familiar to everyone, and the acquisition and compilation of geographic data have become vastly easier as technology has advanced. The authority of traditional mapping agencies can be attributed to their specifications, production mechanisms and programs for quality control. Very different mechanisms work to ensure the quality of data volunteered by amateurs. Academic geographers are concerned with the extraction of knowledge from geographic data using a combination of analytic tools and accumulated theory. The definition of NeoGeography implies a misunderstanding of this role of the professional, but English lacks a basis for a better term.
“The Second Life of urban planning? Using NeoGeography tools for community engagement” by Marcus Foth, Bhishna Bajracharya, Ross Brown, and Greg Hearn
The majority of the world’s citizens now live in cities. Although urban planning can thus be thought of as a field with significant ramifications on the human condition, many practitioners feel that it has reached the crossroads in thought leadership between traditional practice and a new, more participatory and open approach. Conventional ways to engage people in participatory planning exercises are limited in reach and scope. At the same time, socio-cultural trends and technology innovation offer opportunities to re-think the status quo in urban planning. NeoGeography introduces tools and services that allow non-geographers to use advanced geographical information systems. Similarly, is there a potential for the emergence of aneo-planning paradigm in which urban planning is carried out through active civic engagement aided by Web 2.0 and new media technologies thus redefining the role of practicing planners? This paper traces a number of evolving links between urban planning, NeoGeography and information and communication technology. Two significant trends – participation and visualisation – with direct implications for urban planning are discussed. Combining advanced participation and visualisation features, the popular virtual reality environment Second Life is then introduced as a test bed to explore a planning workshop and an integrated software event framework to assist narrative generation. We discuss an approach to harness and analyse narratives using virtual reality logging to make transparent how users understand and interpret proposed urban designs.
“NeoGeography and Web 2.0: concepts, tools and applications” by Andrew Hudson-Smith, Andrew Crooks, Maurizio Gibin, Richard Milton, and Michael Batty
In this article, we explore the concepts and applications of Web 2.0 through the new media of NeoGeography and its impact on how we collect, interact and search for spatial information. We argue that location and space are becoming increasingly important in the information technology revolution. To this end, we present a series of software tools which we have designed to facilitate the non-expert user to develop online visualisations which are essentially map-based. These are based on Google Map Creator, which can produce any number of thematic maps which can be overlaid on Google Maps. We then introduce MapTube, a technology to generate an archive of shared maps, before introducing Google Earth Creator, Image Cutter and PhotoOverlay Creator. All these tools allow users to display and share information over the web. Finally, we present how Second Life has the potential to combine all aspects of Web 2.0, visualisation and NeoGeography in a single multi-user three-dimensional collaborative environment.
The editorial is titled “NeoGeography: an extension of mainstream geography for everyone made by everyone?”, written by Sanjay Rana and Thierry Joliveau.
Collaborative Mapping Drives a New Age of Exploration
In Citizen Science, GIS, Visualization on August 12, 2009 at 7:25 amFrom the 15th Century through the 18th Century, The Age of Exploration was a period of unprecedented discovery. Driven by economics, politics, religion, fame, or other less tangible factors, intrepid explorers went off to far corners of the earth, often without maps to guide them. They came back with tall tales of new places, new species, new tribes—and new maps.
The Age of Exploration gave way to the Industrial Revolution, which itself gave way to the Information Age as more jobs moved from production to service. Geographic information system (GIS) technologies—computer-based applications for viewing and managing information about geographic places, analyzing spatial relationships, and modeling spatial processes—were born during this period, and by the end of the 20th century had become ubiquitous across government and industry as indispensable decision support tools. In the 21st century, the Age of Information is giving way to the Age of Collaboration as the Internet provides a platform to connect people and information to solve ever-more complex problems. Exploration is being redefined, and a new emphasis has been placed on the value of the geographic information being created and shared by GIS professionals.
The old adage “information is power” is historically thought of as “he who has the information, has the power.” In the Collaboration Age, information is democratized, transferring the power from the few who “own” the information to larger groups or the population at large. This is certainly true in the realm of geospatial technology, where we are seeing a revolution in the ways that maps and mapped information are created, used, and shared.
The New Explorers
Exploration used to mean mapping the unknown. The type of information that used to be cloaked in mystery and only accessible by a few people through much difficulty is now easily accessible by literally billions of people. Thanks to this new era of data availability and easy-to-use technology, today’s explorers take information from multiple sources to look at well-known areas in entirely new ways. Widespread access to maps and well-informed awareness of the world around us means this new generation of explorers is immense, smart, creative, and innovative—precisely the prescription we need for a planet in peril.
This new age of exploration has three primary features:
- A vast virtual library of geospatial information is readily available over the Web.
- A new generation of exploration and visualization tools lets people leverage this virtual library quickly and easily.
- The large community of geospatial professionals has the skills to develop custom mapping applications (or “mash-ups”) and perform sophisticated spatial analysis when the solution to a problem demands more than simple exploration or visualization.
Working together or working with data or mash-ups that others have already built and shared, now anyone can use geographic information to explore the world around them.
LandScope America
In Conferences, ESRI, Environmental Science, GIS, Video on August 11, 2009 at 9:03 pmLandScope America is an application based on ESRI Web technology that increases the scope and effectiveness of land conservation in the U.S. This was presented during the Lightning Talks session at the 2009 ESRI International User Conference.
Collecting LiDAR Data for Rainwater Basin Project on the Platte River
In Environmental Science, GIS, Imagery on August 11, 2009 at 9:02 pm
Merrick & Company, working for Optimal Geomatics under a contract with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, is collecting light detection and ranging (LiDAR) data over a 17,677-square-mile area in order to create a digital elevation model. The digital elevation model will be used in natural resources, agricultural planning and management, and to update the flood maps in the area. More specifically, it will serve as part of the wetland restoration index, a tool that is being used to prioritize habitat protection and restoration activities to achieve the greatest wetland biological return for the habitat investment dollar and for stream restoration on the Platte River as part of the Platte River Recovery Implementation Program. The project area covers almost all of south central Nebraska and four counties in north central Kansas.
Managing the Spread of Russian Olive Trees along the Bighorn River
In Education, Environmental Science, GIS on August 11, 2009 at 2:08 pm…from the Billings Gazette…
Undergraduates from Little Bighorn College are taking a preliminary look at the problem on the Bighorn though a summer research program sponsored by NASA.
“The whole thing has to do with global warming and climate change,” explained Roy Stewart, who is leading the small group of students. “NASA was looking for projects that affect the environment. This tree affects the environment.”
In four weeks of research, the students plan to set up 10 plots along the river, Stewart said. He and the students are trudging through groves of the thorny invaders mapping likely plots with GPS and GIS (Geographic Information Systems) technology.
10-Meter DEM Available in ArcSDE Format
In ESRI on August 11, 2009 at 2:08 pmWhiteStar Corp., a supplier of cartographic data products and services to energy and natural resource industries, has introduced the WhiteStar 10-Meter DEM, the first enterprise digital elevation database delivered in ArcSDE format. The WhiteStar 10-Meter DEM may be purchased as a nationwide product or as individual state or county files.
WhiteStar developed the enterprise 10-Meter DEM product by processing the entire USGS National Elevation Dataset (NED) and converting it into the ESRI ArcSDE format, which enables users to make the GIS-compatible elevation data available across their enterprise via the Internet or intranet. The NED is the primary elevation dataset produced by the U.S. Geological Survey at 10-meter resolution.
Expedition to Map the Arctic Seafloor
In GIS, Geography, Science on August 11, 2009 at 9:56 amAmerican and Canadian scientists are setting sail this summer to map the Arctic seafloor and gather data to help define the outer limits of the continental shelf.
Each country may exercise sovereign rights over their extended continental shelf’s natural resources of the seabed and subsoil. These rights and authorities include control over minerals, petroleum and sedentary organisms such as clams, crabs and coral.
The extended continental shelf is that part of a country’s continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles from shore, and its outer limits can be defined according to criteria set forth in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. Data collected during this mission will help determine where these criteria are met for the United States and Canada in the Arctic Ocean.
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| Louis S. St. Laurent (left) and U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Healy (right) in the Arctic – Photo Credit USGS. |
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| USGS scientists Ellyn Montgomery and William Danforth discuss incoming data. Photo credit USGS, taken in 2008. |
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| U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Healy in the Arctic. Photo Credit USGS. |
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| Louis S. St. Laurent finding a path through the Arctic sea ice – Photo Credit USGS. |
The United States and Canada are working collaboratively from August 7–September 16, 2009, using two icebreakers. The U.S. Geological Survey will work with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the University of New Hampshire on U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Healy to collect data primarily on seafloor depths and morphology. The Geological Survey of Canada, Natural Resources Canada will lead research on the Canadian Coast Guard Ship Louis S. St-Laurent and gather information primarily on the thickness and characteristics of sub-bottom sediments.
“The Arctic Ocean is an area of great scientific interest, possible economic development and potential resource conservation,” said USGS scientist Deborah Hutchinson, who will be aboard the Canadian ship as a U.S. liaison. “Both countries benefit from this two-ship expedition by sharing technical expertise and data. Research in these remote areas of the Arctic Ocean is expensive, logistically difficult and sometimes dangerous.”
This mission will emphasize the region north of Alaska onto Alpha-Mendeleev Ridge and eastwards toward the Canada Archipelago. This is the second year the United States and Canada have collaborated in extended continental shelf data collection in the Arctic. Both countries plan to work together again in 2010.
Research is coordinated by the U.S. Extended Continental Shelf Task Force, a government-wide group headed by the U.S. Department of State. Participants in this Task Force include the U.S. Department of the Interior, U.S. Geological Survey, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, U.S. Coast Guard, National Science Foundation, Joint Chiefs of Staff, U.S. Navy, U.S. Department of Energy, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Executive Office of the President, Minerals Management Service, and the Arctic Research Commission.
For additional information, including details on the 2009 cruise and photographs and video from past missions, visit the Extended Continental Shelf Project Web site.
You will also have access to journals and photographs during this mission and from last year’s expedition at the Arctic Chronicles.
The upcoming program follows a joint 2008 U.S.-Canada survey described at Sound Waves monthly newsletter.
You can also learn more about Canada’s Extended Continental Shelf Web site.
Information on the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea can be found online.
Imagery: A Core Component of GIS
In ESRI, GIS, Imagery on August 11, 2009 at 9:48 amESRI has long supported use, exploitation, and analysis of imagery across our product line. Several years ago we launched ArcGIS Image Server, a product which allowed our users to manage and disseminate vast quantities of imagery very quickly and easily. This technology has continued to mature, and last year became an extension to ArcGIS Server. At the same time, image services, which optimize the delivery of imagery over the Web, were built into the core ArcGIS Server product.
At ArcGIS 9.4, we are continuing to further integrate image services and at the same time improve the performance and capabilities of all our products with regards to imagery. Our desktop product will include basic image analysis with focused imagery tools, and very fast image display capabilities. This will allow intuitive and high performance capabilities for navigating imagery integrated with map displays inside of ArcMap. We are improving our image data modeling, management, and visualization, and adding dynamic analytic tools. We have done this in a way that supports the typical workflows associated with geospatial imagery.
With the additional imagery capabilities in ArcGIS 9.4, ESRI is making imagery a fundamental component of ArcGIS. ESRI’s strategy for providing you with increased imagery support includes highly-scalable image data management, new desktop image display and analysis tools, and leveraging the strengths of key technology partners.
Highly-Scalable Image Data Management
At 9.4 we’ve created a new type of raster catalog called a mosaic. Mosaic lives in the geodatabase for working with large image catalogs. Mosaic allows you to keep your imagery in its native format and then dynamically access your original source imagery with on-the-fly orthorectification, mosaicking, and pan sharpening. This dynamic approach to image data management, which underpins our entire image strategy, creates a foundation upon which you can build a highly-scalable solution and which greatly reduces the latency or the time required between initial imagery acquisition and its operational use.
New Desktop Image Display and Analysis Tools
At 9.4, ArcGIS Desktop becomes an image analyst workstation, and includes a very powerful new image display capability featuring a real-time roam, zoom, and rotation across imagery of virtually any size, any resolution, and any location. 9.4 also includes a new image analysis window which contains a number of new image enhancement and analysis tools that you’ve asked us for. These tools are all very easy to use, they’re all in one place, and they operate in real time. You can perform image processing tasks, such as vegetation analysis, with a single click of a button.
Leveraging the Strengths of Key Technology Partners
We are also working to further extend the ArcGIS desktop, geodatabase and server platforms with technology from our imagery partners. We are very fortunate to have a large number of technology partners in the imagery world. Working with them allows you to unlock the powerful information contained in your imagery. One such partner is ITT Visual Information Solutions and their ENVI software suite. ENVI combines the latest spectral image processing and image analysis technology with an intuitive, user-friendly interface. The new ENVI EX product—unveiled at the 2009 ESRI International user Conference, and tightly integrated with ArcGIS—delivers the accurate, scientifically proven processes that ENVI is known for in revolutionary step-by-step workflows that quickly and easily guide GIS users through advanced image processing tasks.
Highly-scalable image data management, desktop image analysis tools, and close ties with key partners will provide you with a complete imagery platform that brings imagery full circle as a core component of ArcGIS.
Tracking Deforestation, One Regression at a Time
In Climate Change, Conferences, ESRI, Environmental Science, GIS, Science, Statistics, Video on August 11, 2009 at 7:10 am“FORMA = Forest Monitoring for Action: Tracking Deforestation, One Regression at a Time” demonstrates an inventive application based on ESRI Web and mobile technology that tracks deforestation in the tropics. This was presented during the Lightning Talks session at the 2009 ESRI International User Conference.
Process Models and Dynamic GIS: Directions Magazine Interviews ASU Prof. Paul Torrens
In GIS, GIScience, Science on August 11, 2009 at 7:06 amJoe Francica, Editor in Chief at Directions Magazine, interviewed Dr. Paul Torrens of Arizona State University about his ideas, space, time, cellular automata, Web architecture, “spimes” and the “Internet of things.”
Ensuring the Integrity, Accessibility, and Stewardship of Research Data in the Digital Age
In Books, Science on August 11, 2009 at 7:03 am
…from the Committee on Ensuring the Utility and Integrity of Research Data in a Digital Age; National Academy of Sciences…
As digital technologies are expanding the power and reach of research, they are also raising complex issues. These include complications in ensuring the validity of research data; standards that do not keep pace with the high rate of innovation; restrictions on data sharing that reduce the ability of researchers to verify results and build on previous research; and huge increases in the amount of data being generated, creating severe challenges in preserving that data for long-term use.
Ensuring the Integrity, Accessibility, and Stewardship of Research Data in the Digital Age examines the consequences of the changes affecting research data with respect to three issues – integrity, accessibility, and stewardship-and finds a need for a new approach to the design and the management of research projects. The report recommends that all researchers receive appropriate training in the management of research data, and calls on researchers to make all research data, methods, and other information underlying results publicly accessible in a timely manner. The book also sees the stewardship of research data as a critical long-term task for the research enterprise and its stakeholders. Individual researchers, research institutions, research sponsors, professional societies, and journals involved in scientific, engineering, and medical research will find this book an essential guide to the principles affecting research data in the digital age.
GIS for Archaeology: Free e-book Now Avalaible
In Books, ESRI, Environmental Science, GIS, Modeling, Science, Social Science, Spatial Analysis on August 11, 2009 at 7:02 am
ESRI has released a new e-book in the GIS Best practices series titled “GIS for Archaeology.” Articles in this e-book include:
- Protecting Archaeological Resources During an Oil Spill in Washington State
- Archaeology, Genealogy, and GIS Meet at Columbia Cemetery
- Reconstructing Aztec Political Geographies A Cost-Effective
- Approach to GPS/GIS Integration for Archaeological Surveying
- U.S. Bureau of Reclamation Administers Archaeological Sites with GIS
- Bureau of Land Management’s Cultural Resource Database Goes Digital
- Modeling Archaeological Sensitivity in Vermont with GIS
- Understanding Past and Future Land Use
“GIS for Archaeology” is available as a free PDF download.
Tibet Autonomous Region Atlas Released
In Environmental Science, GIS, Geography, Science on August 11, 2009 at 7:01 am…from China Tibet Online…
The Tibet Autonomous Region Atlas–the first comprehensive atlas complied by Tibet–is based on existing data and the latest research results in geography, geology, geophysics, geomorphology, climate, hydrology, soil, biology and environmental science, and makes use of GIS high-tech mapping techniques.
GIS and Science in Central Africa
In Environmental Science, GIS on August 11, 2009 at 7:01 amBefore starting graduate school, Bankanza spent more than ten years as a teaching assistant at the University of Kinshasa. He was one of the first to offer instruction and training in geographic information systems there, according to Hansen. “Almost all Congolese working in this area now, whether in private, civil society of government sectors, learned from Bwangoy. Now they train others.”
“I believe that Central Africa can quickly catch up to the likes of Brazil in terms of independent scientific inquiry and analysis through the talents and ambitions of people like Bwangoy and Yolande,” Hansen said.
Research Fellow: Institute of High Performance Computing, Singapore
In Education, Environmental Science, Social Science, Spatial Analysis, Statistics on August 10, 2009 at 11:29 am
You will be engaged in research and development in epidemiological analysis and modeling. You will manipulate and analyse large datasets comprising spatial-temporal information relating to infectious disease and to determine their correlations. You will conduct studies of environmental change and the impacts affecting public health; this will include conducting correspondences related to the work, evaluation and interpretation of the findings, and reporting/presentation of study results. You will assist and/or supervise database development and perform statistical analysis on data collected from research studies.
Requirements
- A PhD in Epidemiology, Statistics, or equivalent
- Knowledge of a wide variety of statistical procedures applied to public health data would be advantageous including but not limited to multivariate correlation analysis, time series analysis, categorical data analysis, logistic regression, survival analysis, spatial analysis, exploratory, and graphical methods.
- Experience in statistical procedures, data management and warehousing techniques would be an advantage
- Possess excellent communication skills and a team player
Contact
Recruitment Officer
Institute of High Performance Computing
1 Fusionopolis Way, #16-16 Connexis
Singapore 138632
Email: recruitment@ihpc.a-star.edu.sg
Web: http://www.ihpc.a-star.edu.sg/
CCIP Call for Participation and FOSS4G Early Registration Deadlines Approach
In Climate Change, Conferences, Environmental Science, GIS on August 10, 2009 at 10:39 am
The Open Geospatial Consortium, Inc. (OGC), the Australian Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) and the Open Source Geospatial Foundation (OSGeo) are conducting a Climate Challenge Integration Plugfest (CCIP) to be launched at the FOSS4G (Free, Open Source Software for Geomatics) Conference in Sydney, Australia, 20-23 October, 2009 (http://2009.foss4g.org).
CCIP Participants are invited to deploy services that implement OGC standards, or clients for such services, that support the exploration of climate change from a quantitative perspective, with an eye towards a standards framework for collaborative science.
The CCIP is a prime opportunity for vendors, users, and other interested parties to mutually refine services, interfaces and protocols in the context of a hands-on engineering experience expected to shape the future of geospatial and imagery-related Web Services software development and Web publication of scientific geospatial data. Participation is encouraged by commercial entities as well as free and open source projects.
Companies or individuals interested in participating should respond to the CCIP Call for Participation at http://external.opengis.org/twiki_public/bin/view/ClimateChallenge2009/CcipCFP by August 10, 2009.
A comprehensive list of presentations has been announced for the international FOSS4G conference. Early Bird registration closes on 7 August, 2009. See details at http://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/FOSS4G_2009_Press_Release_21 .
The OGC (http://www.opengeospatial.org/) is an international consortium of more than 380 companies, government agencies, research organizations, and universities participating in a consensus process to develop publicly available geospatial standards. OpenGIS Standards support interoperable solutions that “geo-enable” the Web, wireless and location-based services, and mainstream IT.
The Open Source Geospatial Foundation (OSGeo) (http://osgeo.org) has been created to support and build the highest-quality open source geospatial software. The foundation’s goal is to encourage the use and collaborative development of community-led projects, data development and education.
Open Geospatial Consortium, Inc
Sam Bacharach, +1-703-352-3938
Executive Director, Outreach and Community Adoption
sbacharach@opengeospatial.org
GIS Positions at Idaho State University
In Education, Environmental Science, GIS, GIScience, Geography, Science on August 10, 2009 at 10:26 am
Masters of Science Graduate Research Assistant – Geographic Information Science, Department of Geosciences, Geospatial Software Lab, Center for Advanced Energy Studies, Idaho State University, Idaho Falls, Idaho, USAWe are seeking an MS-GISci student to work on the MapWindow 6 project, and specifically elements associated with the CUAHSI Hydrologic Information System Desktop Application and the INRA ICEWATER network. You can read more about the HIS Desktop Project here: http://www.mssanz.org.au/modsim09/J4/ames.pdf. A qualified candidate will have expertise in C#, an understanding of GIS, an interest in hydrology or environmental science, and preferably some experience with the MapWindow project (www.mapwindow.org). Candidate should have a Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Computer Science, Geosciences or equivalent. Position will start August 2009 or January 2010 and will include full tuition payment as well as monthly stipend. To begin the application process, please send a complete resume by email to amesdani@isu.edu.Ph.D. Graduate Research Assistant – Engineering and Applied Science, Department of Geosciences or Department of Civil Engineering, Geospatial Software Lab, Center for Advanced Energy Studies, Idaho State University, Idaho Falls, Idaho, USA
Idaho State University offers a unique cross disciplinary Ph.D. program in Engineering and Applied Science through the College of Arts and Sciences and the College of Engineering. The program can be customized to the needs and interests of each student, and currently several students in this program are pursuing a highly geospatial science focused program. We are seeking a Ph.D. student for this program to begin in August 2009 or January 2010 with expertise and interests in GIS Software Development, LiDAR analysis, and Hydrologic/Terrain Analysis using DEM’s. Expertise in C# or VB.NET programming languages as well as MapWindow, ArcGIS, ENVI and or comparable software is critical. Candidate should have a Master’s degree in Engineering, Computer Science, Geosciences or equivalent. Position includes a full tuition payment as well as monthly stipend. To begin the application process, please send a complete resume by email to amesdani@isu.edu.
Post Doctoral Researcher – Geospatial Software Lab, Center for Advanced Energy Studies, Idaho State University, Idaho Falls, Idaho, USA
The Geospatial Software Lab in Idaho Falls, Idaho and the Boise Center Aerospace Laboratory in Boise, Idaho are engaged in a number of exciting research projects at the intersection of GIS, Remote Sensing, and Surface Hydrology/Watershed Analysis and seek a Post Doctoral Researcher to engage in several of these projects over the coming 2-3 years. The available salary is low but adequate and the work is exciting and engaging and is ripe with opportunities for publications, conference participation, and other forms of professional growth. Expertise with IDL, C#, or VB.NET programming languages is critical together with a strong background in MapWindow, ArcGIS, ENVI, and/or equivalent software tools. Position will be based in Idaho Falls, Idaho at the Geospatial Software Lab at the Center for Advanced Energy Studies (www.caesenergy.org) and will begin as soon as filled. Candidate should have a Ph.D. degree in Engineering, Computer Science, Geosciences or equivalent. To begin the application process please send a complete resume by email to amesdani@isu.edu.
Peter Cullen Postgraduate Scholarship: Managing Water Resources in Australia
In Earth Systems Science, Education, Environmental Science, Modeling, Scholarships, Social Science, Spatial Analysis, Statistics on August 10, 2009 at 9:27 am
The NSW Government has developed a postgraduate scholarship in honour of the late Professor Peter Cullen AO FTSE. Professor Cullen contributed significantly to a new way of thinking about managing water resources in Australia, and NSW.
“The scholarship will honour the work and achievements of Professor Cullen, supporting those who have been inspired by his leadership and vision for water.” –Premier of NSW, Nathan Rees
Funds available
A three year scholarship of up to $20,000 p.a. will be awarded each year in February. Funds totalling $60,000 will be available to the successful student over the three year period, but with prior written request the allocated funds could be extended to a fourth year. The scholarship may form part of a stipend and/or support student research. The scholarship can be used to pay for such things as equipment, field expenses and sample processing. These conditions will be further defined in the scholarship agreement between the NSW Government and the University/Research Organisation.
Selection criteria
There are a number of criteria upon which students will be assessed. They must show they:
- are a first year PhD research student enrolled at an Australian university
- are an Australian citizen or have permanent residency
- can demonstrate expertise in one of the following disciplines: bio-physical sciences, mathematics, statistics, information sciences, spatial analysis and modelling. Students with expertise in law, resource management, social sciences, and resource economics are also eligible
- can demonstrate academic excellence in their chosen field (a copy of their full academic transcript
must be supplied) - can provide written proof of their supervisor’s support, indicating how a scholar may benefit from
participation in the Peter Cullen Scholarship.
The Proposed Project
The student’s proposed project will be assessed on how well they:
- Demonstrate how the project will lead to an improvement in our understanding of how rivers, groundwater, wetlands and estuaries function
- Demonstrate the relevance of the research to water management in NSW
- Demonstrate how the project improves the linkages between water science and water management in NSW
- Demonstrate how the project is innovative.
Peter Cullen Postgraduate Scholarship
The following additional conditions apply:
- Supervisor endorsement will be necessary
- Employer endorsement will be required
- Preference will be given to full-time students
- The top up of existing scholarships may be considered.
Assessment of applications
A selection panel will be convened by the Department with industry partners. The selection panel will undertake an initial assessment of applications and generate a short list of eligible applicants. The short listed applicants will be required to attend an interview and/or make a formal presentation of the proposed research to the selection panel. The selection panel will make a recommendation to the Minister.
Reporting
The successful applicants will be required to submit an annual progress report to remain eligible for the scholarship. The progress report will include a financial report on expenditure, a list of project activity, and a report of project outcomes.
All communication for the project will be required to acknowledge the scholarship.
Additionally, the successful applicant will be required to give an annual presentation to funding partners and NSW Government scientists.
Important dates
Applications for the 2010 scholarship will open 01 August 2009, and close 28 August 2009.
Application
All application forms and documents should be sent to:
Peter Cullen Scholarships
C/- Human Resources, Department of Water and Energy
PO Box 3720, Parramatta NSW 2124
By email information@dwe.nsw.gov.au
Enquiries
Simon Williams
Scholarship Convenor
Department of Water and Energy
Telephone 02 4224 9687 or 0413 601 500
Email simon.williams@dnr.nsw.gov.au
Source http://www.jason.edu.au/pdf/1248253296.pdf
Strengthening Forensic Science in the United States: A Path Forward
In Books, Science on August 10, 2009 at 7:53 am
…from the Committee on Identifying the Needs of the Forensic Sciences Community, National Research Council…
Scores of talented and dedicated people serve the forensic science community, performing vitally important work. However, they are often constrained by lack of adequate resources, sound policies, and national support. It is clear that change and advancements, both systematic and scientific, are needed in a number of forensic science disciplines to ensure the reliability of work, establish enforceable standards, and promote best practices with consistent application. Strengthening Forensic Science in the United States: A Path Forward provides a detailed plan for addressing these needs and suggests the creation of a new government entity, the National Institute of Forensic Science, to establish and enforce standards within the forensic science community.
The benefits of improving and regulating the forensic science disciplines are clear: assisting law enforcement officials, enhancing homeland security, and reducing the risk of wrongful conviction and exoneration. Strengthening Forensic Science in the United States gives a full account of what is needed to advance the forensic science disciplines, including upgrading of systems and organizational structures, better training, widespread adoption of uniform and enforceable best practices, and mandatory certification and accreditation programs.
While this book provides an essential call-to-action for congress and policy makers, it also serves as a vital tool for law enforcement agencies, criminal prosecutors and attorneys, and forensic science educators.
Essays on Geography and GIS, Vol. 2
In Books, ESRI, GIS, Geography, Science on August 10, 2009 at 7:38 am
ESRI has released a new Best Practices e-book titled “Essays on Geography and GIS, Vol. 2“. The e-book features the following essays:
- GIS: Designing Our Future. By Jack Dangermond.
- Implementing Geographic Information Technologies Ethically. By Harlan J. Onsrud.
- GIScience for Human Rights. By Doug Richardson.
- Transport 2.0: Meeting Grand Challenges with GIScience. By Harvey J. Miller.
- Geography Education and GIS Professional Development. By Doug Richardson.
- Changing the Face of Geography: GIS and the IGU. By Roger F. Tomlinson.
- Process Models and Next-Generation Geographic Information Technology. By Paul M. Torrens.
- Geographic Literacy in U.S. by 2025. By Daniel C. Edelson.
- Geography, GIS, and Mental Health. By Doug Richardson.
- The National Geospatial Advisory Committee: An Action Agenda. By Anne Hale Miglarese.
- Global Dialogues: GIScience and Sustainable Development in Africa. By Doug Richardson.
- Get Involved with Geo-Education Reform. By Daniel C. Edelson.
This e-book is a followup to the popular “Essays on Geography and GIS“, which has been viewed by more than 30,000 people since it was first made available in September 2008.
Entry Deadline Approaching for International Science & Engineering Visualization Challenge
In GIS, Science, Visualization on August 10, 2009 at 6:44 am
Some of science’s most powerful statements are not made in words. From the diagrams of DaVinci to Rosalind Franklin’s x-rays, visualization of research has a long and literally illustrious history. To illustrate is to enlighten.
How many people would have heard of fractal geometry or the double helix or solar flares if they had been described solely in words? In a world where science literacy is dismayingly rare, illustrations provide the most immediate and influential connection between scientists and other citizens, and the best hope for nurturing popular interest. Indeed, they are now a necessity for public understanding of research developments.
The National Science Foundation (NSF) and Science created the International Science & Engineering Visualization Challenge to celebrate that grand tradition–and to encourage its continued growth. The spirit of the competition is for communicating science, engineering and technology for education and journalistic purposes.
Judges appointed by the National Science Foundation and the journal Science will select winners in each of five categories: photographs, illustrations, informational graphics, interactive media and non-interactive media. The winners will be published in a special section of the journal Science and Science Online and on the NSF Web site. One of the winning entries will be on the front cover of Science. In addition, each winner will receive a free, one-year print and on-line subscription to the journal Science and a certificate of appreciation.
We urge you and your colleagues to contribute to the next competition. Find out more about guidelines for submissions including entry forms.
Science is Being Transformed by Analytics
In Science, Spatial Analysis on August 10, 2009 at 6:38 am
The Q3 2009 issue of sascom magazine features an article by futurist Thorton May titled “Top 8 Things Transformed by Analytics in 2009.” One of the top eight is science. Here’s an excerpt:
“In 2005, Microsoft assembled 30 of the world’s greatest scientists from 12 nationalities to examine the challenges facing scientists in the future, paying particular attention to the impact of computer science on the sciences. The study, called 2020 Science, concluded, “We are starting to give birth to ‘new kinds’ of science and possibly a new economic era of ‘science-based innovation’ that could create new kinds of high-tech sectors that we can barely imagine today, just as we could hardly have imagined today’s rapidly growing ‘genomics’ sector happening two decades ago.”
“Today, science may be giving way to ‘open science.’ While openness has always been an integral part of science, with findings presented in journals and conferences, the open-science movement encourages scientists to share work-in-process long before they present results. This concept has the potential to speed discoveries, increase collaboration and transform the field in unforeseen ways.”
Call for Proposals: GSDI Small Grants Program
In GIS, Grants, SDI on August 7, 2009 at 4:42 pmThe Global Spatial Data Infrastructure Association is pleased to announce its Small Grants Program for the year 2009-10.
Summary
- Awards for spatial data infrastructure or EOS-related activities in economically disadvantaged nations,
- Application deadline of 1 October 2009,
- 4,000 words maximum,
- Awards of $2500 USD in cash and/or contributed volunteer professional services for the project
Background
The Global Spatial Data Infrastructure (GSDI) Association is dedicated to international cooperation and collaboration in support of local, national, and international spatial data infrastructure developments that would allow nations to better address social, economic, and environmental issues of pressing importance. We are committed to bringing about an infrastructure that will allow users globally to access spatial data at a variety of scales from multiple sources that ultimately will appear seamless to all users. The GSDI Association supports the work of organizations to develop their own SDI initiatives, nationally and regionally, and collaborates with local, national, and international organizations to ensure that spatial data, services, and metadata are accessible through interoperable standards-based services, systems, software, and products that operate in a web-enabled environment. The success of the GSDI Association depends on the quality of its partnerships with public, private, academic, and non-governmental organizations. Through adoption of common, international standards, key architecture principles, and approaches for capacity building in developing countries, the GSDI initiatives also link national SDI efforts with the vision and goals of the Group on Earth Observation (GEO) and its Global Earth Observations System of Systems (GEOSS).
Description
The GSDI is being advanced through the leadership of many nations and organizations represented by a GSDI Association Council and Board of Directors. The multi-national Board includes representatives from all continents and all sectors: government, academia, and the private sector as well as regional SDI initiatives referred to as permanent committees:
- Africa: United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, Committee on Development Information: Geo Subcommittee (CODI-GEO)
- Americas: Pan-American Institute for Geography and History (PAIGH)
- Asia and Pacific: Permanent Committee for Geographic Information for Asia and the Pacific (PCGIAP) (ex-officio)
- Europe: European Umbrella Organization for Geographic Information (EUROGI)
Please visit the GSDI Association website (http://gsdi.org) to familiarize yourself with the mission, goals, programs, accomplishments and priorities of the organization.
The GSDI Association, along with partners and participants, has allocated resources from the U.S. Federal Geographic Data Committee and the GISCorps of URISA, to fund a small grants program to support national or sub-national activities that foster partnerships, develop in-country technical capacity, improve data compatibility and access, and increase political support for spatial data infrastructure and earth observations application development. These resources will be used to offer two types of grants this year:
- Cash up to 2,500 USD to be used on your project, and/or
- Professional Services applied to your project
Professional Services will be coordinated by the GISCorps, an international initiative that offers GIS services by qualified economies. Support may focus on technical or institutional projects, as long as tangible outputs and several institutions collaborate on the effort. A list of typical projects follows but this list is not exhaustive:
- Convening of national or sub-national seminars or workshops related to SDI
- Producing SDI- and EO-related training manuals and modules (these materials must not duplicate existing materials)
- Establishing metadata and clearinghouse nodes
- Establishing web mapping services and applications
- Accomplishing Geodata and/or SDI surveys or inventories
- Producing and disseminating newsletters and awareness-raising materials about SDI
- Drafting policy and legislation related to SDI
Priority will be given to projects in developing nations and countries with economies in transition. Grants can be awarded to SDI coordinating bodies (councils, committees) and GIS user groups, but the GSDI Association asks that one institution take responsibility for receiving/depositing the funds. Grants will not cover organization overhead expenses.
Proposals should include information under the following headings:
- Title of Project/Activity
- Focal Point Institution
- Contact Person (business street address, phone/fax, email, and website)
- Introduction and Background (include a description of the national or local institutional framework and what has been achieved thus far)
- Project Description
- Summary of Deliverables
- Period of Performance (time-line for overall project, deadline dates for deliverables, date of final project report to be submitted to grants@gsdi.org)
- Indicate your preference for an award of cash or professional services.
- Budget (itemize how the money is to be spent or the predicated extent of services needed for specific tasks). If one or more GISCorps volunteers are requested please indicate that in your GSDI application and also provide a description of tasks requested of volunteer professional(s) and other information at http://www.giscorps.org/. Use the “New Project” link on this page to complete the request for GISCorps volunteer assistance.
- Details of additional or in-kind funds to co-finance the activity
- List of Collaborators (with contact information)
- Envisioned Follow-up Activities
- Appendix: May include the Final Reports from any previous GSDI Small Grant Awards
Proposals must be submitted digitally to grants@gsdi.org in English and should be preferably two pages in length but no more than three pages or 4000 words (excluding any appendices). Please submit your proposal as a .pdf file (or alternatively .doc or .rtf file) using 12-point Times Roman or Arial font.
We anticipate funding up to 12 Grants in Cash and up to 4 Grants in Professional Services. Grant funds will be issued as paper checks in US dollars drawn on US Banks or as wire transfers. If the recipient chooses to receive funds by wire transfer, $50 US will be deducted from the award amount to cover the processing costs for the wire transfer. The recipient institution will be required to provide a project report and an expense report upon completion of the project. The GSDI Association may include excerpts of the project reports in GSDI newsletters or on its website. Awardees are encouraged to publish a local press release highlighting the award from the GSDI Association as well as the proposed activities, and to send copies of these to the GSDI Association.
Proposals are due on 1 October 2009. Please e-mail them to:
Societal Impacts Committee
GSDI Association
For more information about the GSDI or to subscribe to the GSDI News List, please see http://gsdi.org. For questions about this request for proposals, please contact grants@gsdi.org
Note: The Small Grants Program is intended as a benefit of “full membership” in the GSDI Association. Because the GSDI Association is fairly young, we are making this opportunity available currently to non-members as well. However, full members may obtain favored treatment in the instance in which two grant applications have been ranked similarly in the peer review process. Note that the annual GSDI Association membership fee for national organizations in low and very low per capita income nations may be as little as US$100 or documented in-kind contributions in lieu of dues. Please see http://www.gsdi.org/documents/OrgnMemberApp.pdf
