Day: August 26, 2010

Interactive Spatial Analysis of Lineaments

/ Matt Artz

Computers & Geosciences, Volume 36 , Issue 8 (August 2010)

Thushan Chandrasiri Ekneligoda and Herbert Henkel

“An interactive software tool, here called Spatial Analysis of Lineaments (SAL), has been developed for calculating the spatial properties azimuth, length, spacing, and unidirectional frequency of lineaments which are defined by their start and end coordinates. In a series of steps the user is guided by displays of relevant statistical distributions, which can be user designed. Statistical outliers can be excluded and the total sample of lineaments can be subdivided into azimuth sets and, if required, into spatial clusters. Special attention is given to the removal of spatial outliers in an interactive way. Several rule-based decisions are made to determine the nearest lineament in the spacing calculation. As a default procedure, the program defines a window whose size depends on the mode value of the length distribution of the lineaments in the study area. The software can accept a large amount of lineaments and can analyze the spatial properties of each azimuth set avoiding the repetitive calling of the original database. A simple rule was developed to derive the unidirectional lineament frequency. The spatial properties are presented as histograms for each azimuth set together with the mode, mean, standard deviation, and number of involved lineaments.”

New ArcGIS Explorer Makes Sharing Easier

/ Matt Artz

The new version of ArcGIS Explorer, a free geographic information system (GIS) viewer, opens more avenues for users to share geographic information. It also has many new interoperability updates that help integrate it with ArcGIS 10, including direct support for image services, improved support for ArcGIS 10 layer packages and geodatabases, and more ways to leverage ArcGIS Online.

ArcGIS Online, which is deeply integrated into the ArcGIS Explorer experience, provides an easy way to find and share geographic information and form online communities. With the new ArcGIS Explorer release, users can search for and add content directly from ArcGIS Online, as well as add map items immediately to their online accounts. All maps, data, and groups can be accessed from ArcGIS Explorer.

The latest release of ArcGIS Explorer offers a number of new features that support enhanced interoperability, both with the ArcGIS system and via KML. The free GIS viewer now allows users to export to layer packages and KML, as well as create notes from KML. Also, data can be directly accessed from Excel spreadsheets. Additionally, KML handling has been improved in both 2D and 3D mode, and region-based KML is supported in 2D mode.

ArcGIS Explorer users will now be able to directly use and optimize image services. New tools and properties for image services include gamma, brightness, contrast, compression, resample method, and mosaic method and operator. Image services can also be added as elevation layers.

In addition to the free download of ArcGIS Explorer, Esri offers a free ArcGIS Explorer Software Developer Kit (SDK). This SDK has been updated to support Visual Studio 2010, including templates for the new add-in types and an updated add-in wizard. The reference and conceptual help have also been updated, and new samples are included.

ArcGIS Explorer is supported in English, German, French, Spanish, Japanese, and Simplified Chinese. To learn more about ArcGIS Explorer, visit www.esri.com/explorer.

[Source: Esri press release]

Geospatial Technology: Curricular Keystone of Applied Geography

/ Matt Artz

International Journal of Applied Geospatial Research, Vol. 1, Issue 1, 2010

Richard Boehm and Audrey Mohan

“Research into the nature and function of curricular matters in applied geography has provided an opportunity to assess the penetration and relative importance of geospatial technology to the discipline of geography. Departments of Geography with degree programs in applied geography were surveyed to find out how important geospatial technology was in the preparation of students for meaningful jobs and careers. The Applied Geography Specialty Group of the Association of American Geographers (AAG) was also surveyed about the value of geospatial technology, as was the 95 academic programs that listed applied geography as a “program specialty” in the AAG Guide to Geography Programs in the Americas. There was a uniform agreement across these various groups that geospatial technology occupied an extremely important position in their overall course offerings, and if you are watching the workplace, such courses are not only sensible but offer critical employable skills for students upon graduation. It is widely known that geospatial technology education and training require a large commitment of departmental resources, including faculty lines, equipment expenditures, space, and technical support. A geography department and its university’s administration have to understand these unique requirements and allocate resources, more akin to a computer science department than a traditional academic unit. This reality is of immediate importance to geography departments because almost one quarter of all academic jobs advertised in geography over the last six years have been in the broad area of geospatial technology. A final conclusion to this research is a policy matter that suggests geography departments take a strong proprietorial position toward providing education in geospatial technology because other disciplines and training programs see opportunities in a rapidly expanding workplace skill and they are aggressively pursuing a niche of their own.”