| B.C. Hydro Reduces Peace River Flood Risks
RADARSAT International (RSI) and B.C. Hydro have combined on a pilot project that uses RADARSAT Earth-observation satellite imagery to monitor river ice. RADARSAT imagery is providing B.C. Hydro with critical information to support effective operations of the Williston Reservoir on the Peace River in British Columbia (Canada) during the region's yearly ice season, thus reducing the risk to local residents of ice-jam-related flooding.
Historically, the town of Peace River has experienced periodic flooding due largely to ice jams on the adjacent river. In 1974, B.C. Hydro established the Joint Task Force on Peace River Ice to curb these events by monitoring the ice cover and allowing more flexible reservoir operations. In the past, the primary method of ice flow monitoring was through aerial observation flights. However, airplanes cannot always fly during extremely cold weather, as ice fog in the river valley often creates unsafe operational circumstances.
RADARSAT's success in ice monitoring situations and its ability to capture images in darkness or light, or during any kind of weather, provides officials with a more comprehensive view of the area. The task force was able to produce highly detailed ice maps from RADARSAT images that identified a broad spectrum of ice types and properties. Ice strength thus identified through these maps will provide a higher level of confidence that a return to normal operations is possible without causing disruption to the ice cover.
RADARSAT International is a provider of products and information derived from Earth-observation (EO) satellite data that support global applications ranging from environmental monitoring and natural resource management to marine oil surveillance, defense, and mapping.
For further information, please contact Cory Rossignol at RSI, Richmond, B.C., Canada. Tel: (604) 231-5000. E-mail: [email protected].
Gibson Petroleum Selects Cquay for Location Intelligence
Gibson Petroleum Company Ltd. has signed a service contract with Cquay Inc. for a pilot project involving the use of Common Ground(r) services. Cquay's Common Ground location intelligence platform will provide real-time mapping and spatial analysis capabilities for Gibson's TIGER project, an intranet-based fleet management system. Gibson currently owns and operates more than 45 distribution terminals, 500 miles of pipeline, two million barrels of tank storage, and 800 specialized truck transport units.
Cquay will integrate its Common Ground service platform with Gibson's existing fleet tracking software, allowing Gibson's dispatch center to display the location of fleet vehicles with pinpoint accuracy on a map, instantly determine cargo and capacity, and dynamically find the most suitable vehicle to service a specific customer. Dispatchers will be able to select trucks, customers and facilities by using a simple graphical interface, then drilling down with a single mouse-click to more detailed information that is already contained within Gibson's proprietary databases.
Cquay Inc. provides location-intelligent services to a wide variety of business enterprises, adding location functionality to corporate databases, legacy systems and wireless applications.
For further information, please contact Judy Mahaffy at Cquay Inc., Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Tel: (403) 261-6567. E-mail: [email protected].
Sensytech Inc. Sells Airborne Hyperspectral Imaging System Overseas
Sensytech Inc. has received a contract to provide an airborne hyperspectral imaging system to an as-yet unnamed foreign government. This system is being delivered on an expedited basis to meet the client's immediate need for airborne monitoring. The company has noted an increased demand within the fields of communications, electronic warfare and imaging, and expects to fulfill similar contracts before the end of its current fiscal year.
Sensytech Inc. designs, develops and manufactures ESM/ELINT threat-warning systems, airborne imaging systems, and other special-purpose communications equipment.
For further information, please contact Betty Wells at Sensytech, Newington, Va. Tel: (703) 550-7000. E-mail: [email protected].
Navigation Technologies Joins Intergraph's Team GeoMedia Program
Intergraph Mapping and GIS Solutions continues to expand its Team GeoMedia program, with Navigation Technologies Europe joining as its first Registered Solutions Center (RSC). The two companies announced a partnership earlier this year, making Navigation Technologies a preferred European data supplier. As a Team GeoMedia RSC partner, Navigation Technologies will optimize its NAVTECH(r) mapping data for the GeoMedia(r) environment to ensure its integration with all GeoMedia-based solutions.
The Team GeoMedia RSC program specifically targets data providers, systems integrators and consulting companies who are not resellers. It enables RSC program partners to build long-term relationships with Intergraph and also with Team GeoMedia Registered Solutions Providers for the delivery of geospatial-based solutions that meet a broad range of customer needs.
The Team GeoMedia program provides a global partnership framework for companies and individuals focused on the development, sales, marketing and support of geospatial industry products and solutions based on Intergraph's GeoMedia technology.
Navigation Technologies Corp. is a provider of digital map information and enabling technology used in a wide range of products that include automotive navigation systems, GIS and fleet applications, handheld products, Internet mapping, PC-based applications, and call-center-based navigation services.
Intergraph Mapping and GIS Solutions provides end-to-end geospatial solutions for cartography and map production, plus enterprise-wide mapping and GIS.
For further information, please contact Intergraph by telephone at (800) 791-3357 (U.S.A.) or (256) 730-7191 (international), or visit the company's Web site at www.intergraph.com/imgs.
Tele Atlas North America Improves Mapping Accuracy
Tele Atlas North America has recently completed the repositioning of its street map data in 93 of the top 100 urbanized areas as ranked by the U.S. Census. This project improves street data for the vast majority of the population living in these areas.
The repositioning effort involved tasks such as moving road geometry to match the shape and position of roads as represented in source material -- including ortho-rectified imagery and field-collected data -- adding new geometry, removing spurious geometry in the Census TIGER data, and enhancing dual carriageways that were represented in TIGER as single digitized lines.
Tele Atlas North America (Menlo Park, Calif.), formerly known as Etak Inc., is a provider of digital map data. In an alliance with Westwood One, the company also provides real-time traffic information for business and consumer applications.
For further information, please visit the company's Web site at www.na.teleatlas.com.
CARIS and Holonics Join in Developing GeoPortal Web Services
CARIS and Holonics Data Management Group Ltd. are collaborating to develop a standards-based set of geospatial Web services for the Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO). The completion of this contract will provide the DFO with a common marine data entry point, a GeoPortal. The GeoPortal platform will access and extract knowledge from various marine and hydrographic data holdings of the DFO.
The project will specifically include the development of Web services based upon open and international geospatial standards, as well as development of an application to serve as an interactive user interface, or entry point, for various portal services. Delivery of the GeoPortal will be followed by workshops, demonstrations and presentations to various communities within DFO such as habitat management and marine services. These seminars will serve to explore the potential for interfacing with the GeoPortal infrastructure as either a data provider or a user. Completion of the GeoPortal Project is set for March 2002.
For further information, please contact Sheri Flanagan at CARIS, 264 Rookwood Ave., Fredericton, NB, Canada E3B 2M2. Tel: (506) 458-8533. E-mail: [email protected].
Exor Announces Multiple Linear Referencing for Public Works Applications
Exor Corp. has made available Network Manager V.3, core software and database technology that allows transportation, highway and public works organizations to manage roadway infrastructure, maintenance activities, and network-related events in a single database by using multiple linear referencing methods. As part of the Highways by Exor software suite, Network Manager 3 supports different departmental linear referencing methods on any number of network devices, including those that are running a variety of software applications.
Network Manager 3 has been released in conjunction with Asset Manager 3, which provides support for the management of asset information that may be located on the linear referencing system. As with Network Manager 3, Asset Manager 3 is entirely flexible, providing support for such hierarchical, polygonal and non-linear assets as complex bridge structures, parks, properties, and buildings. Network and Asset Manager 3 are designed to integrate with popular GIS software modules at the database server level.
Exor Corp. provides integrated software solutions for network-based asset management, maintenance management, and event management requirements.
For further information, please contact Bill Nally at Exor Corp., Fairfax, Va. Tel: (978) 738-1907. E-mail: [email protected].
Leica Geosystems Appoints Virginia Dealer
Leica Geosystems Inc. has named FLT Geosystems, a division of Florida Level & Transit Co., as their Leica dealer for land surveying products in the state of Virginia. Based in Richmond, FLT Geosystems will be responsible for selling Leica's GPS and TPS lines of surveying equipment. This includes the complete line of reflectorless and robotic stations, all geodetic-grade RTK and GPS surveying receivers, and all mapping-grade GPS receivers. FLT will also sell supporting surveying software, plus a full line of surveying supplies, paint, flagging materials, and safety equipment.
Leica Geosystems Inc. manufactures systems for surveying, mapping and positional determination.
For further information, please contact Carson Kennedy at Leica Geosystems, 4855 Peachtree Industrial Blvd., Suite 235, Norcross, GA 30092. Tel: (770) 447-6361. E-mail: [email protected].
Global Geomatics Introduces "On-the-Fly" Interoperability for GIS Data
Global Geomatics Inc. has launched MapFusion, software that permits access to geospatial data from diverse sources and formats, all without requiring complex pre-processing or time-consuming translations. MapFusion's "on-the-fly" ability to access, visualize, share and disseminate GIS data across the Internet or on IP-based intranets, allows even non-GIS specialists to reap the benefits from geospatial data created by other departments or organizations.
MapFusion seamlessly merges heterogeneous and distributed geospatial data files into a single map, literally "fusing" maps together. Multiple vector or image files can be combined to form a single map. The product uniformly displays tactical overlays atop geospatial data as derived from any source.
Designed to meet both military and commercial requirements, MapFusion supports interoperability between prevalent geospatial military standards including VPF, RPF, ADRG and DTED, as well as among popular GIS business packages from ESRI(r), Informix(r), Intergraph(r), MapInfo(r), ObjectFX(tm) and Oracle(r). It can also retrieve data from proprietary and open GIS file formats. It furthermore operates in a broad variety of computing environments that include Microsoft Windows 98/NT/2000, Sun Microsystems Solaris, and Linux.
Global Geomatics Inc. develops interoperable geomatics software solutions to facilitate access and diffusion of geospatial data across the Internet and via corporate intranets.
For further information, please contact Carol Wolicki at Global Geomatics, 825 avenue Querbes, Outremont, QC, Canada H2V 3X1. Tel: (508) 877-8209. E-mail: [email protected].
ECW becomes nVisioned
Fugro Geosoft Solutions has become the latest company to support Earth Resource Mapping's Enhanced Compressed Wavelet (ECW) compression file format through their new product, nVision, a lightweight, fully integrated geospatial GIS viewer that supports a wide range of image and vector file formats.
Using industry-standard components, nVision is a modern GIS viewer that encompasses standard map-tool functionality and thematic mapping capabilities. nVision is based on ESRI's(tm) MapObjects lite and utilizes Earth Resource Mapping's Active X SDK to allow royalty-free distribution of a wide range of geospatial data. This powerful tool enables Earth Resource Mapping users to display, query and retrieve ECW images with geo-referenced GIS data overlaying the images.
nVision supports the following vector data formats:
* ESRI shape files
* ESRI coverages
* DXF files
* DGN files
* DWG Files
This tool also supports such image data formats as ECW single image, TIFF multiple images, and JPEG multiples images.
Earth Resource Mapping is an image-handling and integrated mapping software company. Fugro Geosoft Solutions (FGS) provides integrated solutions to organizations whose business systems require geographic (map) data, with services covering planning business systems and developmental solutions such as system design, deevelopment and implementation.
For further information, please contact Clive Poole at Earth Resource Mapping (Asia Pacific), Perth, Australia. Tel: (61) 8-9388-2900.
Sanborn Chosen for Portugal Project
Sanborn Map Company has signed a two-part contract with EDINFOR Sistemas Informáticos S.A. to assist with land-base planning efforts in Portugal. Sanborn was contracted by EDINFOR, a provider of systems/applications outsourcing, on behalf of Electricidade de Portugal (EDP), the electric utility in Portugal.
Sanborn's work with EDINFOR will consist of two components. The initial part includes a review of land-base data, an audit of the land-base program, refinement of technical specifications, and a review of new photogrammetric technologies. The second element involves creating a plan for mobile database development, data distribution, and data licensing.
The Sanborn Map Company offers photogrammetric mapping, data conversion and comprehensive GIS services to engineering companies, government entities, utilities, and to the telecommunications industry.
For further information, please contact Amy Drescher at Sanborn, Pelham, N.Y. Tel: (800) 930-3298. E-mail: [email protected].
Kodak Software to Speed Viewing of Images with LizardTech's MrSID
Kodak and LizardTech have joined together to included LizardTech's MrSID(r) format for image data compression inside Kodak's new releases of IDL v5.5 and ENVI v3.5. This integration will allow users of IDL and ENVI to read native MrSID image files. MrSID produces files in a wavelet-compressed, multi-resolution raster image format.
IDL, the Interactive Data Language, is data visualization and analysis software. Written entirely in IDL, ENVI is remote sensing, image analysis and GIS data integration software. Both products were created by Research Systems Inc. (RSI), which Kodak acquired in September 2000. RSI released IDL 5.5 in October 2001, and plans to release ENVI 3.5 shortly. Future release plans also include support for the JPEG 2000 file format.
IDL will provide a programming interface for reading and querying MrSID files. These commands can be used to construct custom viewers for MrSID data. ENVI offers a full range of digital image-processing functionality. The advantage of using ENVI in conjunction with MrSID is that the format allows very large images to be displayed with "selective decompression" so that only the portion required for display is decompressed. Memory requirements and time delays associated with opening a full image into memory are thus avoided, and an image of any size may be viewed quickly at any resolution.
Kodak's Commercial & Government Systems (C&GS) unit provides image information solutions for business and government markets, including aerial imaging products, digital imaging systems for commercial satellites, optical systems for land and space telescopes, and remote-sensing products.
LizardTech creates software solutions and tools that optimize storage and bandwidth, and enable immediate access to high-resolution, multipurpose digital images and multimedia content.
For further information, please contact Jim Dielschneider at LizardTech, Seattle, Wash. Tel: (206) 902-2832. E-mail: [email protected].
Merrick & Company Announces Multiple Contract Awards
Camp Dresser & McKee (CDM) has entered into a contract with Merrick & Company to provide design-level photogrammetric mapping for the town of Mansfield, Mass. This task will include mapping planimetric features and producing one-foot contours for the area. This work is in support of CDM developing a storm-sewer master plan for the town of Mansfield.
Chesterfield County, Va., has retained the company's services to provide color digital orthophotography, planimetric mapping, and five-foot contours for approximately 437 square miles of land area. The topographic mapping will be achieved using Merrick's new ALS40 LiDAR sensor and softcopy photogrammetry for the adding of break lines.
Stafford County, Va., has hired Merrick to provide color digital orthophotography, planimetric mapping, and a Digital Terrain Model (DTM) to support the generation of five-foot contours for 228 square miles within the county.
Merrick & Company provides land information services that include image acquisition (aerial and satellite), GPS surveying, digital photogrammetry, Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR), and digital orthophotography processing.
For further information, please contact Gary Outlaw at Merrick & Company, Aurora, Colo. Tel: (303) 751-0741. E-mail: [email protected].
First-Ever Laser Communication Between Satellites
On November 20, 2001, an optical communications link was established between two European satellites. The SPOT 4 observation satellite, in low orbit at 800km, relayed a real-time signal to Earth through the ARTEMIS telecommunications satellite "parked" at 31,000km above the Equator. For the first time in history, an inter-satellite data link was established between two orbiting bodies and an optical ground station. This particular station was located in the Canary Islands off the coast of Africa.
The SILEX (Semiconductor Inter-satellite Link Experiment) program is a collaboration between the European Space Agency and the French space agency CNES. Their relationship began in 1989 with the French company ASTRIUM as a prime contractor. The complete system includes two optical terminals -- one on each satellite -- and allows the transmission of high-definition video images in real time directly to the SPOT image-processing center. Experts estimate that this optical process will improve the operational availability and rate of visibility of SPOT 4 data by 40 percent.
The main advantage of optical technology over conventional RF links is that it permits the use of smaller antennas, thus requiring less power. This leads to a significant reduction in the mass and volume of communications material that needs to be boosted into orbit and, with the resulting high-data-rate payloads, will minimize the risk of interference with other communications systems.
ASTRIUM is involved in Earth observation, communications, navigation and ground systems operation, and is a joint venture operation of BAE Systems and the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company.
For further information, please contact Remi Roland at ASTRIUM/FRANCE. Tel: (33) 348-3578. Their Web site may be found at www.astrium-space.com.
Clinton County Selects Woolpert for Parcel Map Conversion
Woolpert LLP has been chosen by officials in Clinton County (Ohio) to create a countywide parcel dataset for their GIS. This project is a continuation of the work Woolpert has performed for the county over past years that includes digital photogrammetry.
During this process, Woolpert will employ the best-fit method to convert the parcel data. This method uses a combination of county source documents and digital orthophotos to digitize property lines. The orthophotos provide an accurate picture base for digitization of such items as tree lines, fences, sidewalks, and other lines of occupation. The county's source documents are then scanned and viewed over orthophotos to verify property configuration and ownership data.
Woolpert LLP is an architectural engineering firm tha provides facilities planning and design, GIS technology, photogrammetry, site design, and water management.
For further information, please contact Marci Gauder at Woolpert, 409 E. Monument Ave., Dayton, OH 45402. Tel: (937) 461-5660. E-mail: [email protected].
Applied Geographics Designing Statewide GIS
The Office of Planning for the state of Maine has hired Applied Geographics Inc. (AGI) to design a cost-effective statewide geographic information system (GIS). Joining in this effort are the companies Camp Dresser and McKee, and GIS Mapping and Analysis.
Officials have recognized the value for greater coordination of GIS efforts among various state departments, municipal governments, and private entities. This project will allow the aforementioned agencies to work together within a common GIS structure to solve problems regarding urban and rural growth, public safety, and emergency management.
Applied Geographics Inc. provides a wide variety of GIS services and specializes in the design and implementation of interactive, web-based mapping and information systems.
For further information, please contact Steve Anderson at AGI, 355 Congress Street, Boston, MA 02210. HOME |
