EarthData Expands Sensor Suite With Leica LIDAR System

With the addition of a new state-of-the-art Leica ALS40 Airborne Laser Scanner, EarthData (Manassas, Va.) has expanded its sensor suite to meet an even wider range of client needs for elevation data. The new system augments the company's existing LIDAR capability with greatly increased pulse-and-scan rates of multi-return intensity capture, as well as automatic roll stabilization. These are all critical components for the efficient production of high-resolution, LIDAR-derived elevation data.

EarthData provides clients with customized mapping and GIS products and services to support a wide range of land-use, resource management, and engineering activities. Leica Geosystems offers a wide range of systems for mapping personnel including GIS professionals, production photogrammetrists, engineers, and remote sensing analysts.

For further information please contact Leica Geosystems GIS & Mapping Division, 2801 Buford Highway NE, Atlanta, GA 30329. Tel: (404) 248-9000. E-mail: [email protected].

Leica Announces New Compact LIDAR System

Leica Geosystems' GIS & Mapping will release its new Leica ALS50 Airborne Laser Scanner in February 2003. The ALS50 offers the power and aptitude of the company's ALS40 model in a new, portable scanner design. Measuring roughly 8.5 inches tall and weighing 65 pounds, the compact ALS50 Scanner assembly allows for fast and simple installation in helicopters and small aircraft.

The Leica ALS50 offers users the flexibility to fly up to 4000 meters above the ground with range and intensity settings that can be altered mid-flight and on a flightline-by-flightline basis. The unit includes automatic gain control, pulse rates up to 45 kHz, plus a 75-degrees field of view.

LIDAR technology is an efficient and flexible tool for generating accurate DTMs during day or night, especially over large areas of featureless or densely covered terrain that may not be conducive to traditional photogrammetric methods.

With its line of aerial cameras, workstations, and imaging and photogrammetry software from LH Systems and ERDAS, Leica Geosystems now offers a wide range of systems for mapping personnel including GIS professionals, production photogrammetrists, engineers, and remote sensing analysts.

For further information please contact Leica Geosystems GIS & Mapping Division, 2801 Buford Highway NE, Atlanta, GA 30329. Tel: (404) 248-9000. E-mail: [email protected].

Sanborn Wins Mapping Projects in Three States

The Sanborn Map Company has won contracts for four mapping projects in three U.S. states: North Carolina, Georgia and California. The company's office in Charlotte, N.C., will perform the work.

The first two projects are for the North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT). Reselected by the DOT for its annual statewide mapping initiative, Sanborn will provide professional photogrammetric mapping services throughout the state, an area of 52,669 square miles. The DOT will use the data to aid highway design, including the planning of road improvements.

In a separate contract, Sanborn will provide helicopter and airborne GPS/Inertial Navigation System (INS) aerial photography services and high-accuracy profile mapping for NCDOT. The AGPS/INS photography will be used to develop design-scale digital mapping and digital orthophoto imagery. The low-altitude helicopter photography will be used to develop highly accurate road-profile data that conforms to survey-grade standards of accuracy.

Additionally, Sanborn was hired by Whitfield County, Ga., to provide countywide black-and-white digital orthophotos and GIS services for the 290-square mile county. Whitfield County's GIS and tax departments will use the half-foot-pixel-resolution orthophoto images for a variety of purposes. Sanborn will acquire the AGPS/INS aerial photography during the 2003 spring flying season, completing the project in fall 2004.

The city of Lakewood, Calif., has hired Sanborn to provide 1"=100' scale, color digital orthophoto imagery with quarter-foot-pixel resolution for the city. Sanborn will fly the 12-square-mile area in spring 2003, completing the project in July. The city's tax, planning and public works departments will use the data to better serve Lakewood's 74,000 residents.

Sanborn offers a full suite of GIS and photogrammetric mapping services to federal, state, and local governments, as well as to private companies. The company's core services include data acquisition, digital mapping, and data conversion.

For further information, please contact Carol Thorpe at Sanborn, Pelham, N.Y. Tel: (877) 368-9702. E-mail: [email protected].

ESRI-Powered DC Atlas Delivers Spatial Data Throughout Capital City Offices

ESRI's ArcIMS software is powering a new application at city government offices in Washington, D.C. The District of Columbia launched DC Atlas as an enterprise GIS for its employees in June 2002. The Office of the Chief Technology Officer (OCTO) in Washington, D.C., worked with an ESRI business partner -- Michael Baker Jr. Inc. -- to develop the ArcIMS Intranet-based tool that brings together data from the city's 67 departments, delivering it directly to every staff member's desktop computer.

An ArcSDE geo-database from ESRI allows city employees to access more than 150 map layers including demographic, socioeconomic, and spatial data. DC Atlas supports the city's departments with instant access to a wealth of information such as orthophotos and planimetric maps, plus maps of service areas, political and administrative boundaries, development areas, fire and police stations, hospitals, schools, and libraries.

ESRI is a developer of GIS software that provides consulting, implementation and technical support services. ESRI can be found on the Web at www.esri.com.

For further information, please contact Jim Rich at ESRI, 380 New York St., Redlands, CA 92373. Tel: (909) 793-2853. E-mail: [email protected].

M.J. Harden Offers ESRI Geodatabase Pipeline Technology

M.J. Harden Associates Inc. (MJH) announces the availability of their ArcGIS Pipeline Data Model, developed jointly by MJH and ESRI. This model takes the first step toward broad industry consensus on a common, conceptual ESRI data model for the pipeline industry.

Because data modeling represents an expensive part of every GIS implementation, ESRI makes these models available to help lower the cost of implementing enterprise-wide GIS technology, and to jump-start projects with a standard, flexible model.

The effort to develop an industry-standard pipeline data model began in 1994 with the development of the Integrated Spatial Analysis Techniques (ISAT) pipeline data model project. ISAT was designed to be customizable and has been expanded for numerous clients to support data integration, field data collection, and various applications involving right-of-way, environmental, marketing, risk assessment, and pipeline integrity issues. M.J. Harden was the lead consultant on this project and has since converted more than 165,000 miles of pipeline facilities and operational data into the model.

The development used existing, published pipeline data models and expanded them to accommodate key pipeline issues -- principally pipeline integrity -- for both natural gas and liquid pipelines. The ArcGIS Pipeline Data Model allows users to create a geodatabase designed for the purpose of modeling a real-world oil, gas, or liquids transmission pipeline.

M.J. Harden Associates, Inc. (MJH) develops and implements ESRI's GIS software for pipelines. The MJH line of products and services assist pipelines in increasing productivity, lowering costs, and improving services by allowing them to effectively manage spatial information.

For further information, please contact Janice Colt at MJH, 1019 Admiral Blvd., Kansas City, MO 64106. Tel: (816) 889-1105. E-mail: [email protected].

GITA's Annual Conference Will Feature Municipal Perspective

The unique challenges faced by local governments implementing a geographic information system (GIS) will be addressed at the Geospatial Information & Technology Association (GITA) Annual Conference 26, set for San Antonio, Texas, on March 25, 2003.

An entire conference track, "Municipal Perspective," will be devoted to issues and trends faced by local governments. Eight educational sessions over two days will address funding for the rollout of new technologies, system maintenance, resource issues, and other critical topics. In addition to the "Municipal Perspective" track, Conference 26 offerings for local government attendees include a seminar titled "GIT-Enabling Public Works and Municipal E-Government and Operational Initiatives," which will help attendees learn how geospatial information technology can be used to support vital operational aspects of their organizations.

A panel discussion, "Homeland Security," will look at the issues surrounding the threat of terrorism to facilities belonging to utilities, cities, transportation providers, and federal and state agencies. The discussion will examine measures to preserve essential services throughout large geographic areas.

For more information on GITA's Annual Conference and Exhibition in San Antonio, please visit the organization's Web site at www.gita.org, or call GITA at (303) 337-0513.

SAS and ESRI Create Software Bridge for More Efficient Data Analysis

The companies SAS and ESRI have joined forces to release "SAS Bridge for ESRI," a product that allows speedier information flow between ESRI's ArcGIS technology and various SAS solutions. By eliminating the need for rewriting customized programs whenever source data changes, this bridge will save users valuable time when it becomes necessary to join SAS data with spatial data from the ArcGIS environment.

SAS Bridge for ESRI 1.0 establishes a communications link between the two software systems, extending capabilities and increasing the effectiveness of analytical inquiries by linking spatial, numeric and textual data through a single graphical user interface (GUI). The bridge allows for a read-and-write exchange of data between SAS and ArcGIS, and exposes SAS metadata or information about all organizational data within the ArcGIS environment. It can also be used to run SAS programs in an ESRI environment.

The U.S. Census Bureau has tested SAS Bridge for ESRI and plans to use it for geography-based analytical reports such as income statistics, regional poverty figures, and equal employment opportunity reports. In addition, SAS Bridge for ESRI helps the Census Bureau analyze detailed tabulations about children with regard to school district geography.

ESRI is a developer of GIS software that provides consulting, implementation and technical support services.

For further information, please contact Jim Rich at ESRI, 380 New York St., Redlands, CA 92373. Tel: (909) 793-2853. E-mail: [email protected].

ASPRS Specialty Conference on Platforms and Sensors a Hugh Success

Nearly a thousand attendees benefited from the specialty conference "Integrating Remote Sensing at the Global, Regional, and Local Scale," that took place in Denver, Colo., on November 10-15, 2002. The conference was a joint effort of the American Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing (ASPRS), the International Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing (ISPRS), and the Transportation Research Board (TRB). This conference combined four separate meetings: Pecora 15/Land Satellite Information IV Conference, ISPRS Commission I Mid-Term Symposium, Remote Sensing for Transportation Conference, and Future Intelligent Earth Observing Satellites Conference.

The week began with 11 workshops that covering a wide range of topics and applications including digital aerial imaging, hyperspectral image processing, cost-effective orthophotos, plus utilization and integration of LIDAR for mapping and GIS. The ASPRS Certification Preparation workshop was also given.

The keynote session was opened by conference chair James Sturdevant of the USGS. Gérard Brachét, formerly director general of the Centre National d'Études Spatiales, spoke on the topic "Earth Imaging from Space: New Actors, New Sensors, Better Products, and a Brighter Future."

The international community was well represented at this conference, due in large part to the co-sponsorship of ISPRS Commission I. The second general session, led by Stanley Morain (chair of ISPRS Commission I), was titled "Integrating Sensor Data from International Programs" and included panelists from France, Japan and England.

A classified session held at a TRW facility in suburban Aurora focused on homeland security issues. It is anticipated that a similar session will take place when Denver hosts the annual event again in 2004. Other technical tours included visits to the corporate headquarters of both Space Imaging and Digital Globe, plus a trip to the USGS Rocky Mountain Mapping Center.

Plans are underway for the ASPRS Annual Conference in Anchorage, Alaska, set for May 5-9, 2003. More than 450 technical papers have already been accepted for presentation at the expected 100-plus sessions that will take place over three days. Special sessions will cover a wide range of topics, including dealing with imagery on the Internet, plus Web-based GIS, GPS, and Aqua and Landsat satellites.

Founded in 1934, ASPRS is an international professional organization of more than 7000 geospatial data professionals, involved in all aspects of photogrammetry, remote sensing, GIS, and related technologies.

For further information, please contact Anna Marie Kinerney at ASPRS. Tel: (301) 493-0290. E-mail: [email protected].

Spacemetric and Core Software Technology Offer Integrated Imagery Product

Core Software Technology and Spacemetric have jointly created an integrated system for the production, management and dissemination of remotely sensed imagery products. Spacemetric's SIP/Ortho solution generates ortho-corrected image products from a wide range of commercial satellite imagery data sets including Ikonos, Eros, QuickBird and Spot 5. The system also supports rational polynomial functions as an alternative for feeding in additional satellite sensors. Through its advanced approach, SIP/Ortho can achieve accuracies at the sub-pixel level with only a few ground control points.

Core's TerraSoar system manages and distributes satellite imagery through a standard Web browser. Core has deployed its solution to 15 ground receiving stations worldwide and has developed the first worldwide fully integrated e-commerce and distribution system for geospatial data.

Spacemetric (Stockholm, Sweden) provides software and consulting services for the production of digital ortho-images. The SIP/Ortho production system provides a highly scalable, image production solution for all major commercial satellite sensors.

Core Software Technology provides software and services for the archiving, management and dissemination of geodata.

For further information, please contact Clinton Libbey at Core, 1920 Association Drive, Reston, VA 20191. Tel: (703) 390-5571. E-mail: [email protected].

Visual Learning Systems Receives NSF Grant to Mine Large-Image Databases

Visual Learning Systems (VLS), which perfected the process of extracting information from imagery with its Feature Analyst software, is now broadening its solution base to include the mining of information from large-image databases. The National Science Foundation (NSF) has awarded VLS a Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) Award to achieve this task. Data mining is the process of discovering new, relevant and exciting information from a large body of knowledge. For image databases, however, this information is generally unavailable to the GIS analyst because it is trapped within the imagery. To unleash this information, features such as road networks need to be extracted from the image pixels.

With this SBIR Award, VLS will develop a tool to combine Feature Analyst technology with image data mining. Potential applications include scientific research, environmental modeling, local government planning, and federal government security programs.

Visual Learning Systems Inc. (Missoula, Mont.) is a software development company that focuses on feature-extraction and image-classification solutions for its GIS customers. To learn more about VLS, please contact the company by telephone at (406) 829-1384, or via e-mail at [email protected].

INTERGEO 2002: Representing an Industry in High Spirits

The annual European conference and trade fair for geodesy, geo-information and land management -- INTERGEO 2002 -- closed its doors after yet another successful event. A marked growth in the number of exhibitors, visitors and floor space reflected the high spirit of this industry, in strong contrast to the general global economic trend.

INTERGEO occupied the Exhibition Centre in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, from 16-18 October 2002. It is often said that trade fairs can be used to interpret the state of their respective industries. In this case, exhibiting companies were very satisfied with the number of visitors who came to their stands, and 90 percent of these exhibitors have already expressed their intention to return for INTERGEO 2003.

INTERGEO 2002 was the largest trade fair of its kind worldwide. It offered a platform to 479 exhibitors on 22,000 square meters of floor space, an increase of five percent over last year's exhibition. The number of exhibiting companies grew 15 percent as compared to 2001. Exhibitors from 23 different nations reflected the increased internationalization of INTERGEO. In addition to companies from Western and Eastern Europe, exhibitors came from Russia, India, China and North America. Also, INTERGEO conferences have earned a reputation as showcases for innovation. Nearly 200 new products, solutions and services made their debut in 2002.

INTERGEO 2003, whose motto will be "Knowledge for Planet Earth," will take place on 17-19 September 2003 at the Exhibition Centre in Hamburg, Germany.

Rockland County Uses Sewall Aerial Photography to Control West Nile Virus

In April and June 2001, Rockland County (N.Y.) contracted with the James W. Sewall Company to capture photography of its 176-square-mile area as part of countywide public health and environmental management programs. Following these aerial missions, Sewall produced 9"x9" contact and 30"x30" large-format prints for the county's health department to be used in locating wetlands, swimming pools, catch basins, and other hydrologic features with a high probability of breeding mosquitoes.

In an effort to control the spread of West Nile virus, the county is now using this color infrared (CIR) aerial photography to assist in identifying and treating mosquito breeding grounds within the county's municipal boundaries. On the basis of this interpretation, county officials last summer conducted site tests, interviewed citizens, and applied larvicide to selected open water breeding areas to control mosquitoes during the larval stage. This effort was conducted in conjunction with a comprehensive mosquito surveillance and control program, one that included educating the public on virus prevention, testing individuals, and collecting and testing dead birds.

This information provided the basis for the county's work with the public this summer to eliminate potential breeding areas, and to treat 26 selected sites by helicopter. To date, there have been no reported human cases of West Nile virus in Rockland County. In New York State, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have reported a total of 74 lab-positive human cases of the virus, with five confirmed deaths.

In addition to mosquito control, the county is using this photography to identify other potential problems in the environment including underground pollution, stream discharges, and tire dumps. Through the auspices of the planning department, which is developing an enterprise-wide, parcel-based GIS, officials plan to provide all county departments and the public with online access to the photography in digital format.

Rockland County consists of five towns and 19 villages in lower New York State, with a total population exceeding 288,000. The area borders the Hudson River to the east, the state of New Jersey to the south, and the Ramapo Mountains to the north and west.

The James W. Sewall Company provides services in aerial photography, photo interpretation, and land-base mapping, offering comprehensive GIS consulting services to government, utility companies, and forestry.

For further information, please contact Lisa Schoonmaker at Sewell, Old Town, Maine. Tel: (207) 827 4456. E-mail: [email protected].

Leica Geosystems Opens New Software Development Center

Leica Geosystems has opened a new software development center in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, to provide custom software solutions for customers in North and South America. The company has opened additional software development centers in Madrid (Spain) and Shanghai (China) to serve the European and Asian markets respectively. Leica Geosystems will fully integrate these regional centers with each other, and with the corporate development facilities at the company's headquarters in Heerbrugg, Switzerland.

Leica Geosystems manufactures and markets systems for surveying, mapping and positional determination. The company is structured in six divisions: surveying and engineering, GIS and mapping, industrial measurement, special products, consumer products, and new business.

For further information, please visit the company's Web site at www.leica-geosystems.com.

LANDSAT 7 Good for Another Year with the USDA

RADARSAT International (RSI) has received another one-year contract from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to supply LANDSAT 7 data over the United States for the USDA's crop monitoring activities. This renewal contract for 2003 marks the third time the USDA has turned to RSI for its LANDSAT 7 data requirements.

The USDA routinely uses satellite data as part of its crop prediction and early warning process. Once RSI provides the LANDSAT 7 scenes to the USDA, commercial and customized software are used to process each satellite scene into a rectified image. At that point, vegetative index numbers (VINS) -- relating to crop vigor -- are calculated and stored within a GIS. As the imagery is processed, it is routed online to the appropriate analysts who draw comparisons from previous years to verify crop type and crop health, or to assess the extent of crop damage due to drought.

RADARSAT International provides Earth-observation data and derived information products for global applications that range from environmental monitoring and natural resource management to marine oil surveillance, defense, and mapping.

For further information, please contact Kate Stephens at RSI, Richmond, B.C., Canada. Tel: (604) 231-5000. E-mail: [email protected].

LiDAR Services International Opens Calgary Office

LiDAR Services International (LSI) has opened a new corporate office and LiDAR data processing center in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. LSI is a privately owned LiDAR service provider that was created following the sale of TerraPoint LLC, and the subsequent closure of the TerraPoint Canada office in July 2002.

LSI owns and operates HELIX LiDAR, which is a helicopter-based LiDAR system. The HELIX system integrates a custom-built scanning laser with GPS, IMU (inertial measurement unit), nadir-profiling laser, digital video, and high-resolution digital imagery, all in a portable survey system.

The company has forged a strategic working relationship with Manitoba Hydro -- the fourth-largest electric utility in Canada -- via subsidiary company WIRE Services, which is involved in electric transmission line rating and re-rating analyses. To date WIRE Services has collected more than 2000 linear kilometers of transmission data using the HELIX system.

LiDAR Services International offers LiDAR and digital imagery data collection for a wide variety of industries that include pipeline and electrical transmission lines, seismic, transportation, mining, and forestry.

For further information, please contact Art Silver at LSI, 3115 12th Street NE, Calgary, Alberta, Canada T2E 7J2. Tel: (403) 517-3132. E-mail: [email protected].

Solid Terrain Modeling Produces Mountainous Model for National Geographic

Solid Terrain Modeling (STM) has completed a new model for National Geographic's Explorers Hall museum in Washington, D.C. The model of the Virunga Mountains -- a region that covers parts of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda and Uganda in Africa -- replaces one that has been on display for nearly a year. New data sets allowed the creation of a more accurate and visually appealing model. Seventeen other STM models are also on display in Explorers Hall.

NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) supplied the enhanced data sets for the eight-foot-square model. JPL was able to construct a cloud-free view of this tropical area by piecing together a recently acquired Landsat satellite scene with a scene from the Landsat data archive. The elevation data was obtained from the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM), which was designed to produce the first detailed, near-global elevation model. The SRTM data was acquired in February 2000 during a flight of the Space Shuttle Endeavor, co-sponsored by NASA and NIMA.

To produce a model, STM uses digital elevation and imagery data for the selected geographic area. The digital elevation data controls STM's highly calibrated cutting machine as it carves the model out of high-density plastic foam. Then STM's printing machine applies the image data directly onto the model's surface. Other images such as maps, photos, graphics or text can be printed there as well. The result is an exact replica of the geographic area, in complete detail and brilliant color.

For further information, please contact Gary James at STM, 340 Fillmore St., Fillmore, CA 93015. Tel: (805) 524-7307. E-mail: [email protected].

Blue Marble Geographics Unveils New GIS Division

Blue Marble Geographics has been writing GIS software programs and applications for more than 10 years. Their technology is embedded in hundreds of GIS applications used in military, oil exploration, civil engineering, surveying, technology and corporate GIS systems. The company's new software development division -- Blue Marble GIS Development -- will create custom GIS applications in the areas of image georeferencing, image re-projection, coordinate conversion, vertical transformation, image and map file display, and GPS data integration. Blue Marble GIS Development will also develop custom plug-ins that modify existing applications to suit specific customer requirements.

For further information please contact Hilary Sasso at Blue Marble Geographics, Gardiner, Maine. Tel: (207) 582-6747. E-mail: [email protected].

New Kodak Black-and-White Aerial Film Offers Convenience & Flexibility

Eastman Kodak Company's Aerial and Industrial Materials group has introduced a new black-and-white film that allows aerial photographers to capture low-, medium-, and high-altitude mapping with a single film. The new Kodak Aerographic MX Film 2407 lets flyers choose one film to provide high-resolution images at all altitudes.

This new film is two-thirds of a stop faster than its predecessor, Kodak Aero LX Film 2408, thereby granting photographers the privilege of extending their flying day and the flying season. Its lower D-min provides faster printing and scanning, and the film's fine grain provides detailed images that make it easier for customers to interpret and extract the information they need to make better decisions.

Kodak's Aerial and Industrial Materials group helps meet innovative imaging needs across private and commercial sectors, offering a wide spectrum of aerial and industrial imaging materials that include large-format aerial films and processors for remote sensing, photogrammetry and other applications. Eastman Kodak is located in Rochester, N.Y.

GAF AG Establishes Computerized Mining Cadastre for Congo

German company GAF AG has received a contract to set up a computerized, countrywide mining cadastre system for the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The project aims to improve governance in the mining sector through the establishment of a transparent system for granting, managing and canceling permits. The efficient and reliable management of mining titles is considered a cornerstone for increasing investment and growth within the mining sector of the DRC.

The primary component of this project is the design and development of a computerized mineral titling system, known by its French acronym as SIGTIM (Système Informatisé de Gestion des Titres Miniers).

The International Development Association of the World Bank is the primary funding source for these activities. This operation in the DRC follows other African-based GAF activities in Madagascar and Namibia, where partnerships with public administrations have established nationwide, computerized mining titling systems, some successfully in operation for a number of years.

The SIGTIM process covers all transactions throughout the lifetime of a mineral title. Title information can be archived and updated, with all required documents generated automatically. Planning tools, list generators, and statistical analysis routines support the title management process. Geographic information related to the titles, as well as related topics such as administrative boundaries or environmentally sensitive areas are fully integrated and can be visualized, queried and printed in map form. The system operates within standard PC software architecture, and use of the system requires only a minimal amount of computer literacy.

GAF AG develops dedicated software and services for applied remote sensing and information systems, offering a broad spectrum of applications that range from procurement of geodata to value-added processing, information processing, and software development.

For further information please contact GAF AG, Munich, Germany. Tel: (49) 8912-15280. E-mail: [email protected].

Cary & Associates Offers Geotechnology Market Report

Cary & Associates has published a market report titled "Geotechnology Business Opportunities with Government." This report provides information about actual projects and budget allocations in agencies that have a requirement for one or more of the geotechnologies.

A section on how to do business with government includes such useful information as contact names, job titles, telephone and fax numbers, e-mail addresses, Web site URLs, and mailing addresses. All this information has been researched on the Internet or verified by telephone, and is provided in comma-delimited format so that buyers can import the data into contact management software or mail merge programs.

Cary & Associates offers a full spectrum of market research, planning and implementation services exclusively to the geotechnology industry.

For further information, please contact Tina Cary at Cary & Associates, 540 Saint Andrews Drive, Longmont, CO 80501. Tel: (303) 774-8415.

Merrick & Company Completes Clark County Prototype Mapping Project

Merrick & Company has finished a 12-square-mile prototype mapping effort for Clark County, located in southwestern Washington. The full project is already underway, scheduled for completion in April 2003.

Merrick acquired countywide color aerial photography, LIDAR data, and digital color infrared aerial imagery in spring 2002. A wide selection of derived data products will be delivered, including TIFF and MrSID color digital ortho-imagery, raw and filtered bare earth and canopy LIDAR data, a countywide digital terrain model, and resampled data at varying pixel resolutions.

Data acquisition is expected to help the county improve its vacant land model, thereby supporting compliance with the Washington State Growth Management Act. The county is required to create urban growth boundaries that represent where commercial, industrial and residential construction can occur. Land that contains natural resource features such as wetlands, steep slopes or flood plains are excluded from the vacant land inventory, or are otherwise projected to develop at lower density levels.

The LIDAR and digital color infrared ortho-imagery will be used to improve the county's wetland boundaries. The LIDAR data will be used for steep slope analysis and the identification of potential wetland locations. The digital color infrared ortho-imagery will be used to identify vegetation and standing water in potential wetland locations.

Merrick & Company is a multidisciplinary engineering, architectural, GIS/mapping, and construction management firm. For further information, please contact Gary Outlaw at Merrick, Denver, Colo. Tel: (800) 544-1714. E-mail: [email protected].

ARDISTMII Has Arrived

Global Imaging Technologies has completed development of its instrument known as ARDISTMII (Advanced Resolution Digital Imaging System). ARDISTMII produces ultra-high-resolution TM data at a rate better than six-inch ground sample distance (GSD). This device collects panchromatic imagery with all IMU data attached, allowing for the rapid delivery of ortho-corrected imagery in less than one week.

For further information, please contact Ryan Johnson at Global Imaging Technologies, Hunt Valley, Md. Tel: (410) 771-3879. E-mail: [email protected].

Revealing the Trail: Anyone, Anywhere Can See Where Lewis & Clark Trekked

A vast cache of satellite imagery along the Lewis and Clark trail will become available to the public for the first time, thanks to a partnership between NASA and GCS Research. GCS Research is a client of TechLink, which worked with technology transfer managers at the NASA Stennis Space Center's Earth Science Applications Directorate to forge this historic partnership.

TechLink is located at Montana State University (Bozeman) and funded by NASA and the U.S. Department of Defense to move technology from federal laboratories to the marketplace, thereby contributing to the success of both technology-based companies and key, resource-based industries in the state and region.

Over the past several years, NASA scientists at Stennis have used satellite and aircraft remote sensing imagery to create precise 3D maps of the exploration party's trail and campsites, primarily in anticipation of the Lewis and Clark Bicentennial Commemoration. The data sets include imagery from many different NASA sensors, precision 3D topography, and also historical data that includes Captain William Clark's maps. The Lewis and Clark party left a highly detailed account of their journey -- including some surprisingly accurate maps -- of the expedition that took them from St. Louis to present-day Astoria (Ore.) and back. The data is useful for examining how the ecosystem has changed over the past 200 years, including changes to the Missouri and Columbia River systems.

Under the terms of this agreement, GCS Research will collect the NASA data and make it available to the public on the World Wide Web, free of charge. By using existing partnerships and proprietary software products, GCS Research will enable easy public access to the imagery data. Prospective users need only a Web browser to view this material.

GCS Research LLC specializes in the development of custom mapping and geo-imagery applications for the Internet. The company creates custom applications and products to communicate geographic information across a diverse range of industries and media types.

For further information, please contact Alex Philp at GCS Research, Missoula, Mont. Tel: (406) 721-6744. E-mail: [email protected].

Grafton Technologies Uses QuickBird Imagery for Airport Management

DigitalGlobe recently announced that its QuickBird satellite imagery is being used by Grafton Technologies Inc. to aid in airport development, management and maintenance. Grafton Technologies began using orthorectified QuickBird satellite imagery in July 2002 to map airport features at the Portland (Maine) International Jetport. Combined with a GIS, the 60-centimeter-resolution satellite images provide airport planners and developers with spatial data to support airport expansion and improvement projects, not to mention environmental analyses.

For the Portland project, Grafton Technologies will use DigitalGlobe satellite imagery to identify urban growth patterns that might constrain future airport development, evaluate the effect of airport changes on surrounding roadways, and illustrate areas where roadway construction may affect airport operations. Black-and-white QuickBird satellite images will serve as the primary data underlay, over which Grafton Technologies will insert colored vector data to illustrate engineering and planning details.

Grafton Technologies Inc. (Newburyport, Mass.) implements GIS and other spatial technologies for the aviation industry. The company has worked with airports, municipalities and the FAA to design, develop and implement custom systems as well as off-the-shelf software.

DigitalGlobe (Longmont, Colo.) is an imagery information company that provides highest-resolution satellite imagery products via QuickBird.

For further information, please visit the company's Web site at www.digitalglobe.com.

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