| Banking on the Future
Companies gear-up to deliver Web-GIS applications
By T.J. Burnham Digital data on the Internet through new services from enabling and image generating resources are reaching out not only to traditional industry users. New services are pioneering a full spectrum of maps and other products for the public at large.
The new personal approach seeks to incorporate individuals, students, and the general consumer into the spectrum of earth imaging once reserved for big business. Kodak
Kodak Earth Imaging (KEI) unveiled its Internet connection in October to make aerial images available not only to business, but to the general public as well.
Images in the United States and Canada are included in the initial offering, said KEI Manager Thomas Havens, Rochester, New York. This service leverages the Picture Network International (PNI), a Kodak subsidiary that provides management services for aerial photographic companies.
"We're using four aerial photographic on-line companies and expect rapid development and growth of this service," he said.
Images can be accessed at the Kodak Earth Imaging web site (http://pni.pniltd.com:9010) and MAPPS (http://maps.org), as well as at the sites of aerial service companies furnishing the images, including: Aerial Cartographics of America, Inc., Tobin International, Ltd., Horizons, Inc., and Spencer B. Goss, Inc.
This brings the expertise of PNI copyrighted material and licensing on-line to a wide audience at costs, he said, "...comparable with industry standards."
"Our market is intended to be fairly broad," said Havens. Oblique on-line photographs will include even National Parks such as low resolution depictions of the Grand Tetons and Grand Canyon, which may be of interest to the general public at "attractive prices."
Users can order high resolution copies watermarked (for copyright protection) for a fee from KEI on compact disc or hard copy output using photographic digital prints, contact prints and transparencies.
"We are excited about bringing these services to customers through the Internet and will be steadily improving the area of coverage in the United States and Canada," Havens said.
"We will be offering enhanced capabilities soon," Havens said, making the site more convenient. Aerial Images
Aerial Images, Inc., of Raleigh, North Carolina, providing data via the TerraServer using Kodak film and processing, now offers more than 2 million square kilometers (km) of Earth service concentrated on major population areas in the United States, but with worldwide focus as well.
The new Internet service which came on line in early 1998 "brings to the general public a customer level of affordable service ($7.95 to download a single image)," said operations Vice President Nat Robb. Aerial Images, best known for selling images to government and commercial map makers, is reaching out to a new audience (via http://www.terraserver.com) in which real estate interests are responding strongly, he said.
"Anyone who has a need to tie Internet images to records in farming, environmental or other industries will find this an important new service," Robb said. "Education users (elementary, high school and university students and instructors) are responding in a big way as well since this is a price that anyone can afford."
What the new Internet Aerial Images services provide is a free look-see at images on large scale, replacing the heretofore practice of companies charging fees to see thumbnail satellite photos.
"We've opened up the service without paying a subscription fee," he said, noting that new sources of imagery will be announced in 1999.
Partnered with Microsoft in the effort, the service "does for software what the big main frames were once needed to do," Robb said, by moving digital imaging from the world of digital alphas into the compact computer.
Using Russian satellite imagery (as well as the U.S. Geological Survey), the service taps into data being collected since the mid-'80s around the world, providing the ability to do "before and after" change detection.
Continued space missions are building the data base to levels outdoing the competition, he claimed. Each image site is covered five times from an altitude of 120 miles above the Earth over the course of 45-days.
Kodak is now providing chemicals to develop films for the Russian satellite shots, Robb said, and in the next launch will incorporate Kodak film for higher quality imaging than is presently provided for 2-meter resolution (1m is not far off, he promises).
Pricing per image ranges to $24.95, depending on photo dimensions, which allows users to download the image in digital form on 14,400 modems in less than 5 minutes for the largest files.
"Microsoft chops the pictures into tiles, allowing a much faster download time than many are accustomed to," he said.
User response has been high, Robb said, with 5 million TerraServer page views per day on the average.
"We will add additional sources soon, including 1m imagery," he said of the aerial and high flight photography. We're also working on digital elevation models, which we now have the capability to produce, but need to work more in developing the delivery system before we can go on line.
"The main effort today is getting more images," he said. "We're putting 2 million km a year on the site." About 600,000 new 1998 images were loaded in October. Bentley
Bentley Strategic Affiliate WorkPlace System Solutions provides a new Internet service for several products under its ProjectWise Solutions (projectwise.com) program, said public relations spokeswoman Kayla Fisher, Exton, Pennsylvania.
"What we are offering is software appealing mainly to architects, engineers, and surveyors seeking services solutions enabling large project teams to create Web-sites to post their files, drawings, models, and aerial photos to scan documents and notes on particular projects," she said.
ProjectWise Workgroup is a rapidly deployable, turnkey solution which enables internal engineering teams and workgroups to streamline collaboration, control documents, and share project communications using local area networks (LANs) and wide area networks (WANs).
The system, which came on line in mid-October, allows the task teams to track revisions quickly and keep histories as the engineering project unfolds, Fisher said. The company installs the software on-site for users at the company, setting up options for servers and desktops of team members.
"This process can be daunting for some companies, so we come in and handle everything for about $20,000," she said. That price includes a 3-day instruction course which trains users on the project Web-site and extranet private communication services.
"Our software allows companies to publish their files in real time, avoiding slow downs in posting when changes are necessary in their projects," she said.
Users can post their own imaging maps and scan in images related to their specific projects for review by the entire project team. "While we are not offering images as a part of this service, clients can use their own aerial photos and scan in images as they need them," she said. "It provides a way to share digital data on line."
ProjectWise Workgroup is integrated with Autodesk's AutoCAD R13 and AutoCAD R14.
Also available is ProjectWise Extranet which makes project information of all types available to workgroups and project teams via the Internet and secure extranets.
ModelServer Publisher integrated into the ProjectWise solutions supports viewing and printing of AutoCAD .DWG files into MicroStation .DGN files.
Bentley will also offer a new service with McGraw Hill to make its services available to their users. On Target Mapping
On Target Mapping, a Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania., imaging company, christened its NetApp solutions package in September using proprietary MapInfo and ESRI platforms for their software at www.otmapping.com, offering telecommunication coverage and risk assessment database Internet applications.
"Users have five choices of NetApp applications," said On Target marketing vice president Debbie Magee, "including Wireless Customer Care logs and reports on wireless service scenarios, the Telephone Exchange Finder which locates telephone exchange boundaries, and a Wireless Coverage Finder to check on wireless coverage in an area.
"There is also a Flood Plain Finder which uses maps 880 U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) in the United States to determine if an address falls in a flood plain," she said.
The newest NetApp, which came on line in late October, is the Internet Access Finder which allows users to discover whether their Internet service provider is within the local calling area.
On Target, which specializes in telecom providers, government, and corporate custom versions beginning at $25,000, has "options to fit every organizational requirement and Internet strategy," said President Gary Schaffer. AutoDesk
Autodesk of San Rafael, California, began new Internet enabled services in 1997, optimizing GIS application publishing for through products such as MapGuide, MapServer, MapAuthor and MapViewer. GIS vector and raster file formats are included.
"This service dramatically increases the value of existing data investments," said public relations manager Barbara Brown. Already, Autodesk applications have helped to create images to chart registered voters by sector in South Africa and set up Red Cross command centers in the Alabama hurricane area in September.
"We're getting extensive use among huge telecommunications corporations to keep track of cabling and area code areas, by government, among the oil and gas industry, and with environmental firms," she said. Using content from multiple GIS providers such as Allaire's Cold Fusion, the AutoDesk products helped chart new territory on the Internet, she said. Fees for the networked MapGuide are $6,994, which includes one server for up to 25 users and provides for a MapAuthor and some MapViewer utilization. Purchased separately, the MapAuthor sells for $995, and the MapViewer is $39. The products, can be viewed on the Internet at http://www.autodesk.com. SSC Satellitbilt
Swedish-based SSC Satellitbilt launched Spacepix in September to provide space image products helpful in describing real estate locations. "We believe we were the first to offer Internet-based services to the general public," said sales manager Christer Andersson (cq), Stockholm.
Images of New York City, Chicago, Paris, and Moscow are available on the Spacepix homepage (www.spacepix.com). Soon users will be able to download color images of 20 cities throughout the world, said Andersson.
Introductory price of the Spacepix service is $7.95, which allows users to download 1,000x800 pixel images in JPEG and TIFF formats. The highest resolution at this time is 10m.
This service, introduced last December allows a 2.3 megabyte file to be printed on high quality printers. Intergraph
Intergraph Corp., Huntsville, Alabama, introduced its free GeoMedia Viewer (Web-site No.)service in November (cq 1998), a compatible Web-based program for the company's premier GIS product serving imaging systems, civil engineers, and telemarketing programs.
"Our aim is to help customers use work products that will assist them in faster completion of their specific jobs," said Rachel Rogers, senior marketing manager. "We have a number of products available for users, including the latest web search engine, Express by Infoseek," which is available at http://www.intergraph.com/infoseek/.
Intergraph also offers teaching via the web on its Support program (http://www.intergraph.com/software/support/) which features customer forums and links to Oracle and Microsoft training sites. 'Demos', which provides industry solution pages including a GIS page is also available (http://www.intergraph.com.gis/demos.asp). MapInfo
MapInfo MapXtreme Java Edition Internet announced in late October its pending release as "the first 100 percent Java mapping server for the web."
Noting an increasing number of businesses using the web as a decision-making instrument, the Troy, New York, company said MapXtreme is finding strong sales with spatial analysis telecommunications, government, finance, retail, and insurance users.
A 30-day free trial available (www.mapxtreme.com) offers a look at the MapXtreme Java Edition which is available for $24,495 for a 4 server license. Space Imaging
Space Imaging has introduced its new browser capability, Carterra (http://www.spaceimaging.com), which allows a review of satellite images available at prices of from $100-$200 per square mile for imagery on CD ROM, hard copy or 8 millimeter tapes.
"We came on-line with this new system to better serve our clientele in environmental, agricultural, mapping, utilities, telecommunications, gas and oil exploration, and local government markets," said Linda Lidov, public relations manager of the Thornton, Colorado, firm.
"Users can enter a street address or name (city, state, etc.) or geological coordinates, and access archives that will call up images they can put into their shopping carts and make purchase decisions with greater ease than ever before," she said.
Scales for the system ranges from sub-meter to 188m satellite resolution, Lidov said.
When Space Imaging launches its Ikonos satellite this month (cq December), additional new and sharper images from around the world are anticipated, she said.
The new browser system makes it easier for users to decide what they want, since they will have the archives literally at their fingertips, Lidov said.
As the Internet imaging industry explodes across the home computer of John Q. Public and spreads through a myriad of businesses, its expansion appears to be limited only by the pace at which new photos can be added to the library.
Truly, it is a universal boom market in which the sky is literally the limit. About the Author:
T.J. Burnham owns Burnham Media Services in Sacramento, California, a freelance agency which writes exclusively for agricultural publications. He founded BMS in 1994, telephone: 916-454-5893. Back |
