Google Earth supporting scientific research enabling users to view slices of atmospheric data

From the popular journal, Nature, an interesting article on how biologists are using Google Earth to support their efforts. Of particular interest, this piece shows a nice use of Google Earth to view a "slice" of atmospheric data in a virtual Globe environment. Next month, biologist Erik Born will be wielding a crossbow and firing satellite tags into the hides of walruses, having maneuvered his rubber dinghy through the pack ice off western Greenland. By tagging the walruses, Born will be able to track the animals' movements and behavior from afar over several years. He will keep an eye on them using the same free Internet tool that has opened the eyes of millions to the possibilities of digital geography (and the sight of their house from above) — the Google Earth virtual globe... of interest is this quote found deep in the article... "Google Earth has no analytic functions and is not designed to replace professional GIS software; in fact, it should be a boon to the software makers. "Google Earth is just the most fantastic thing I have ever seen," says Jack Dangermond"... very true and akin to the old saying, let the buyer beware... thus, Google Earth definitely has secured a place in the geospatial workflow process, however, it's not a solution to replace existing technologies, rather, it's a complement. Used wisely google earth is extending the reach of GIS in areas that until now have not felt the benefits of GIS. See the article at Nature http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v439/n7078/full/439776a.html

2006 USGIF Scholarships Program

Details of the 2006 scholarship program has been released by the USGIF. The Foundation will award 14 scholarships totaling $55,000 in 2006 to recognize promising future contributors to the geospatial intelligence tradecraft. Students interested in applying should visit http://www.usgif.org/content.asp?pl=455&contentid=460. The submission deadline for scholarship application is June 15, 2006. More info available at http://www.gisuser.com/content/view/8185/

Sprint launching a new series of business-mobility podcasts

A contact from Sprint tipped us off about this one... Sprint is launching a new series of business-mobility podcasts beginning on February 16th.  Designed to help businesses learn how to better use mobility tools to overcome business challenges, these podcasts will be ongoing, with a new podcast available every other week. Podcast link: http://podcast.sprint.com See also RSS feed link: http://rss.sprint.com/SprintPodcast

A few comments from the International LIDAR mapping forum (ILMF) from Denver

So what was cool at this week's ILMF - International LIDAR Mapping Forum in Denver? Of interest, some 300+ attendees took in the cozy but informative event (this is up from 200 last year) and most people agreed that interest in LIDAR data and supporting tools and technologies is definitely on the up-swing. It's interesting to note that there's not a huge progress as of yet regarding standards, as such there's loads of proprietary applications that are being used to process and manipulate LIDAR data for mapping and GIS applications. It's always quite interesting to hear about what people are using LIDAR for.. we heard from many people that have taken advantage of lower data acquisition costs and have integrated LIDAR into their solutions. - many uses we heard of include coastal mapping, corridor analysis and monitoring, 3D mapping, oil & gas ROW mapping, etc... OF particular interest was the common reference to data fusion projects where existing projects are fusing higher-resolution LIDAR data within them to infill additional details to special areas of interest... makes sense! Those people interested in locating applications and tools useful for manipulating and managing LIDAR data should check out merrick, BAE, Leica geosystems, and Qcoherent software, to name a few. Finally, something very cool and new is the lidarxchange (See www.lidarxchange.com). This new service has been developed so that member users can buy, rent, sell, and post LIDAR related assets... think of it as a community LIDAR marketplace. Membership is being accepted although users should look into the coasts that are associated with serving and distributing data. More to come on the LIDAR forum soon. Couldn't get to Denver? No worries, here's a few pics from the event in my photoblog http://www.flickr.com/photos/gisuser/sets/72057594065204064/

skype + Google Maps = SKmap - a social networking mashup for skype users

This social networking mashup enables Skype users to search and locate other skype users so they can then exchange information or chat. Users set their location using Lat/Long then define their status... icons are used in user profiles to help determine the level of services they are interested in. Since I'm not a big skype user (although I have used it in the past), I'm sure many will find it to be rather cool... see SKmap at http://www.gatagata.jp/SKSweets/ja/map_ww.html

More on Hurricane Katrina Surge Inundation and Advisory Base Flood Elevation Maps

Katrina Recovery Maps update - The Hurricane Katrina Surge Inundation and Advisory Base Flood Elevation Maps show a variety of information concerning the hurricane’s impact – information that was developed through numerous post-storm surveys and data analyses. The Katrina Recovery Maps also show Advisory Base Flood Elevations (ABFEs), which are the best 1%-annual-chance (100-year) coastal flood elevations currently available to guide redevelopment along the Louisiana Gulf Coast. The base map for the Katrina Recovery Maps in Mississippi is pre-storm, digital orthophotography that was provided by U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Agriculture Imagery Program
See the Louisiana Katrina Flood Recovery - http://www.fema.gov/hazards/floods/recoverydata/katrina_la_index.shtm

 

Maps showing the extent and magnitude of Hurricane Katrina’s surge, as well as information on advisory flood data, were created for the areas of Harrison, Hancock, and Jackson Counties in Mississippi that were most severely impacted by coastal flooding. Several data layers from the Katrina Recovery Maps are available as GIS shapefiles for download including:
Preliminary High Water Marks
Surge Inundation Limits
Surge Elevation Contours
Advisory Base Flood Elevation (ABFE) Contours
Advisory Base Flood Elevation (ABFE) Breaklines
http://www.fema.gov/hazards/floods/recoverydata/katrina_ms_index.shtm

 

In recent FEMA Flood Mapping updates, a delay was announced on the release of updated data for Vermillion and Iberia counties... from FEMA, Wayne Rickard, mitigation section chief for FEMA, said that the data for Vermilion and Iberia is still being plotted onto maps and that those maps, along with St. Mary Parish, are expected to be ready around the second week of March. Rickard said that while the advisory maps are pending, advisory base flood elevation guidance was released to these parishes December 1st and it is valid. These documents address eleven parishes and are available online at: http://www.fema.gov/hazards/floods/recoverydata/katrina_la_resources.shtm#guidance

Microsoft Provides Academia With $300k Research Relevant to Virtual Earth

Microsoft Corp. has announced the recipients of approximately $1 million in academic research funding. Through a request for proposal (RFP) process, Microsoft is encouraging academic research focused on advancing Microsoft® Virtual Earth™ technology as well as developing Trustworthy Computing curriculum projects. The 23 grant recipients represent universities from countries around the world, including in Belgium, India, Russia, South Korea and the United States. The eight winners of the Virtual Earth RFP will receive a total of $300,000 (U.S.), while the 15 winners of the Trustworthy Computing RFP will receive a total of $750,000 (U.S.). The maximum individual grant amount for each RFP is $50,000 (U.S.). More bout the initiative... "The Virtual Earth RFP, initiated and funded by Microsoft’s Virtual Earth and Local Search business units, is designed to encourage university research in areas relevant to digital geography, including spatio-temporal databases, routing, computer vision, ontologies, map user interfaces and visualization. " The eight winners of the Virtual Earth RFP will conduct basic research in digital geographics that is expected to advance the state of the art. More on this including details of the winners can be found inn the offical Pr announcement - see http://www.gisuser.com/content/view/8173/ & see also http://www.research.microsoft.com

GeoDATA 2006 FREE Educational GIS Seminars

Training 4 GIS is offering its fourth national GeoDATA seminar series showcasing geographic data and the benefits they bring to those within both the public and private sectors. The 1-day seminars will commence in Liverpool on 9 May followed by Glasgow on 11 May, London on 23 May and the final seminar will take place in Cardiff on 25 May 2006. Attendees will be catered for through a well structured educational seminar programme complemented by an exhibition. Full event details can be found at: www.training4gis.com or call 01223 880077 (UK)