U.S. Remote Sensing Industry $2.4 Billion and Growing

The Imaging and Geospatial Information Society has announced its initial results from their 2001 Remote Sensing Industry gross-revenue survey. This survey was conducted in late 2001 as part of the joint ASPRS/NASA ten-year industry forecast and reflects the second in a series of revenue surveys; the first such survey was performed in 2000.

In the 2001 survey, commercial firms involved in the remote sensing industry reported annual revenues during their most recent fiscal year that ranged from $500,000 to $180 million, up from $400,000 and $120 million respectively in 2000. Projected gross revenues, aggregate to an industry-wide revenue stream, were conservatively estimated at $2.44 billion, up from $2.2 billion in 2000. This number reflects an actual growth rate of nearly 11 percent. Over the next five years, projected revenue growth as forecast by industry CFOs and CEOs is expected to continue averaging between 10 and 15 percent per year.

The breakdown of reported revenue from various business sectors ranges from data processing at 21 percent to data acquisition at 25 percent. The top remote sensing market segments continue to be the following:

* National and global security -- 36%

* Civil government -- 16%

* General-purpose mapping -- 15%.

The report also indicates that aerial-based revenue comprises approximately 30 percent of the total. Satellite-based revenue comprises 46 percent of the total, while the remaining 24 percent is allocated to a mix of the two, or to related support activities.

The remote sensing industry includes image mapping, photogrammetry and remote sensing analyses, and applications in image-based geographic information systems (GIS). This report includes revenue generated by firms based within the United States, plus domestic sales by companies based outside the United States but operating within its borders. Excluded from this report was revenue from non-image-based GIS activities and from basic, non-image surveying.

Founded in 1934, ASPRS is an international professional organization of 7000 geospatial data professionals devoted to advancing knowledge and improving understanding of the mapping sciences. Additional information on this survey will be provided during the 2002 ASPRS Annual Conference, scheduled for April 19-26 in Washington, D.C.

For further conference details, please contact Kimberly Tilley by telephone at (303) 493-0290, or visit the ASPRS Web site at www.asprs.org.

Condat Provides Mobile Device Support for ESRI's Geography Network

ESRI has formed a technology alliance with Condat AG (Berlin, Germany). Condat will integrate its wireless middleware product, Skyware(r), into ESRI's Geography Network to deliver device-aware GIS data and software components over the Internet.

ESRI's Geography Network allows service providers to make GIS data and software components available over the Internet to customers who use various ESRI products. Condat's Skyware extends this capability by putting GIS directly into the hands of mobile users, regardless of where the user is situated or which device he or she may be using. Skyware provides content in a generic way so that map services are made available to mobile devices without requiring specific content-provider action.

ESRI and Condat are partners in offering mobile GIS-based applications to several high-growth markets, combining the m-business (mobile business) and middleware platform from Condat with ArcIMS, ESRI's Internet-based GIS solution.

For further information, please contact Jim Baumann at ESRI, Redlands, Calif. Tel: (909) 793-2853. E-mail: [email protected].

Kodak ENVI Software Earns Top Rating From NIMA Pathfinder Evaluation

The Commercial and Government Systems unit of Eastman Kodak Company has seen its ENVI software chosen by the 2002 NIMA (National Imagery and Mapping Agency) Pathfinder program as a top-rated multispectral and hyperspectral imaging software product. The Pathfinder program is designed to conduct a comprehensive evaluation of commercially available software to meet the specific needs of NIMA and other organizations within the U.S. Department of Defense. ENVI software is an advanced remote sensing GIS data-integration software package developed by Research Systems Inc. (RSI), a wholly owned subsidiary of Eastman Kodak.

The NIMA Pathfinder 2002 program evaluated 52 different remote sensing software packages that focused on image processing. The main purpose of the program was to find tools that would allow NIMA and its users -- other government and military agencies -- to quickly and accurately extract and depict information from multispectral and hyperspectral imagery. As both forms of data become increasingly available from a variety of sensors that operate from the ground, air and space, there are growing requirements for new tools to view, manipulate and draw information from these data.

ENVI software includes multithreading processing, wizard-based spectral tools, automated map composition tools, extensive data access functionality, 3D terrain tools, classification and post-classification routines, registration and georeferencing tools, mosaicking tools, and integrated GIS and vector processing capacity.

Through its subsidiary, Research Systems Inc., Kodak offers data analysis and visualization software products to such markets as remote sensing, Earth sciences, environmental and resource management, oil and gas, marine sciences, engineering, automotive, aerospace, and medicine.

For further information, please contact Bernice Borrelli at Eastman Kodak Company, Rochester, N.Y. Tel: (716) 726-5214. E-mail: [email protected].

BAE Captures Ohio and Arizona Contracts

BAE SYSTEMS ADR has been awarded a contract with the CAGIS (Cincinnati Area Geographic Informations Systems) for photogrammetric map updating services throughout the customer's existing geographic information system (GIS). Services will include the development of two-foot contours, the creation of digital orthophotography, and planimetric feature updating for a 416-square-mile area within Hamilton County, Ohio. In addition, BAE will generate "true" digital othophotos for downtown Cincinnati. CAGIS is expected to deliver its existing GIS data to BAE in an ESRI format, which will be ingested directly into the company's SOCET SET(r), photogrammetrically updated, and then exported back into the CAGIS operational GIS environment.

The company has also been tapped by the Arizona Department of Military Affairs (DEMA) to produce color imagery of two Arizona National Guard sites. Project specifications included one-foot-pixel, color orthorectified and mosaicked imagery of the two sites, with a digital elevation model (DEM) suitable for one-foot contours in both compressed and uncompressed formats. Among other uses, DEMA will employ this imagery to analyze buffer-zone construction around firing ranges to ensure that stray munitions do not disturb other ordinances or wildlife habitats in the area. Joining BAE SYSTEMS on this project was Hook Engineering (Phoenix, Ariz.) and Air Photo Services.

BAE SYSTEMS ADR provides products in the fields of photogrammetric mapping, GIS development, land-base compilation, digital orthophotography, and data conversion.

For further information, please contact Brian Bienkowski at BAE SYSTEMS ADR, 9285 Commerce Hwy, Pennsauken, NJ 08110. Tel: (856) 663-7200. E-mail: [email protected].

Saint John Power Commission Chooses GIS by ESRI

The Power Commission of the city of Saint John, New Brunswick (Saint John Energy), has selected ESRI's ArcGIS software as their enterprise geographic information system (GIS), along with naming ESRI Canada to implement and support this GIS. The system is part of Saint John Energy's overall integrated enterprise application that also includes a management information system and a customer information system.

Saint John Energy is a municipal electric utility that has served the city since 1922. As a non-generating utility, its primary responsibility is the distribution of electricity and customer service to approximately 35,000 customers. This contract will fulfill Saint John Energy's goal of establishing a corporate GIS software platform. ESRI Canada will also support Saint John Energy with the installation and implementation of the ArcGIS suite of tools.

The Saint John Energy Commission opted for the ESRI ArcGIS platform, including ArcInfo, ArcSDE, and ArcView. They also selected Miner & Miner's Enterprise ArcFM, Designer, and DistOps. The ESRI GIS is expected to allow for compatible sharing of data with outside agencies for initial data collection, and for ongoing updates. These outside agencies include the city government of Saint John, the provincial government of New Brunswick, plus utility providers NB Tel and NB Power.

Miner & Miner develops and implements GIS software for utilities. The company has been a business partner of ESRI since 1987. Established in 1984, ESRI Canada specializes in geographic information systems (GIS) products and services, distributing ESRI GIS software products throughout Canada.

For further information, please contact Heather Adams at ESRI Canada, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Tel: (416) 386-6463. E-mail: [email protected].

IMAGIZER Suite Now Available from Leica Geosystems

Leica Geosystems is pleased to offer IMAGIZER(r), a software suite that allows end-users to read, roam and annotate data that is processed via geographic imaging software, all without actually having the software installed on one's system. The IMAGIZER suite consists of two main components: IMAGIZER Viewer and IMAGIZER Data Prep.

IMAGIZER Data Prep is an add-on module for ERDAS IMAGINE 8.5 that allows users to prepare and distribute geospatial datasets on CD-ROM. It creates a header for the data and then tells IMAGIZER Viewer how to view it. IMAGIZER Viewer is a stand-alone application used to view, edit, measure and hyperlink any type of imagery such as TIFF, IMG or MrSID. It reads datasets encoded by IMAGIZER Data Prep and can also be stored and disseminated on CD-ROM.

IMAGIZER includes the ability to perform the following functions:

* Geographically link data

* Roam and zoom data

* Create and edit annotation overlays

* Query feature attributes

* Snapshot viewer contents for printing

* Hyperlink annotation features to other applications, such as Web pages.

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

GPS-Photo Link Adds Advanced Features for GIS Professionals

GeoSpatial Experts announces the release of GPS-Photo Link version 1.1. The company's original GPS-Photo Link PC software watermarked digital camera photos with latitude, longitude and other descriptive information. When importing these images to a Web page, it was therefore possible for a user to know exactly where these photos were taken. This new version extends current functionality to include Datum and Grid coordinate support, ArcView extension for linking to photos, and customizable Web pages.

Among the new features of GPS-Photo Link 1.1 are the following:

* ESRI ArcView extension for hot-linking shape files to images

* Display of Datum and Grid coordinates within watermarked photos

* User-customizable Web page templates

* Photo locations displayed on USGS aerial photos and topographic maps

* Photo editing by modifying the brightness, contrast and rotation of every watermarked photo.

GPS-Photo Link 1.1 supports all Garmin GPS receivers and most digital cameras. No physical connection is required between the GPS receiver and the digital camera.

For further information, please contact Rick Bobbitt at GeoSpatial Experts, Fort Collins, Colo. Tel: (970) 412-2028. E-mail: [email protected].

OrthoWarp v2.1 Gets Satellite Imagery Straight

Earth Resource Mapping and Inpho Technology Oy jointly announce the latest release of OrthoWarp ER, a professional software tool for the orthorectification of satellite imagery. Version 2.1 simplifies the process of producing orthorectified imagery from a variety of satellite sensors, supporting such image formats as Landsat, Spot, IRS and Ikonos.

This new version also contains improvements to the satellite sensor models used, thereby assisting anyone who attempts to orthorectify data in areas where elevation changes are significant. OrthoWarp ER Version 2.1 also makes it simpler to obtain useful orthorectified data for areas where traditional airborne data sources do not have coverage.

Inpho Technology Oy (Espoo, Finland) produces geodetic and photogrammetric software. Earth Resource Mapping provides image-handling and integrated mapping software products and services.

For further information please contact Earth Resource Mapping Inc., 87 Colin Street, West Perth (WA) Australia 6005. Tel: (61) 8-9388-2900. E-mail: [email protected].

MAPPS Joins Design and Construction Experts to Improve U.S. Security

In the wake of the September 11 terrorist attacks, leading design and construction industry groups have agreed to collaborate on issues relating to the security of the nation's infrastructure and various sorts of man-made structures. This roster includes the Management Association or Private Photogrammetric Surveyors (MAPPS) plus a number of U.S. federal agencies.

Known as The Infrastructure Security Partnership (TISP), this group will work collectively to assist the nation's war on terrorism. It has formed a steering committee to guide the collaborative efforts, and more than 40 organizations have already joined TISP. Members are expected to engage in regular forums to share information and build professional relationships, working cooperatively to protect America's citizens. The partnership plans to hold quarterly discussion forums on key issues, as well as a yearly conference.

Along with MAPPS, members of TISP include the American Institute of Architects, the Society of American Military Engineers, the American Society of Civil Engineers, the American Council of Engineering Companies, the Associated General Contractors of America, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Federal Facilities Council, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and the Naval Facilities Engineering Command.

This partnership has the strong support of Lt. Gen. Robert B. Flowers, commander of the Army Corps of Engineers, who visited ground zero at the World Trade Center in the days following the attack. "If architects and engineers can work together to prevent another disaster like this one, we should not hesitate," he said.

A formal signing ceremony involving all participating organizations was held on March 11, 2002, at the Hyatt Grand Hotel in Washington, D.C. MAPPS President G. Michael Ritchie signed the agreement on behalf of his organization.

For additional information on TISP, please contact Lawrence P. Delaney, chief architect of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Tel: (202) 761-4945. E-mail: [email protected].

Golden Software Releases Surfer(r) 8 with Image Overlay Functionality

Golden Software Inc. has upgraded its Surfer(r) contouring and 3D mapping package with the ability to create fully rendered 3D surfaces and overlay aerial photography, satellite imagery, and other bitmaps on those 3D surfaces. These features allow Surfer users to create photo-realistic 3D models that contain both terrain and ground cover detail. Introduced in 1984, Surfer is used by geologists, hydrologists and engineers to transform XYZ data into surface, contour, image, shaded relief and vector maps.

Two other upgrades to Surfer 8 include mosaicking functions and cross-validation. Users can now instantly merge, or mosaic, multiple grid files to create a single comprehensive map, all with the push of a button. In addition, Surfer 8 now validates a user's data to determine which of 12 gridding methods will produce the best map. Golden Software has also enhanced Surfer's capacity to handle inputs of up to one billion coordinate points for generating a surface map.

Surfer 8 is fully compatible with other software, capable of importing and exporting data files in all popular formats. Its functionality can be integrated with any ActiveX Automation-compatible software, and Visual Basic, C++ and Perl scripts can be used for automating repetitive functions.

Golden Software is a provider of scientific graphics software with clientele in the areas of hydrocarbon exploration, mining, engineering and medicine.

For further information, please contact Kari Fox at Golden Software Inc., 809 14th Street, Golden, CO 80401. Tel: (303) 279-1021. E-mail: [email protected].

RSI Supports Petrobras Environmental Program in Latin America

RADARSAT International (RSI) announces that Petrobras (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) is nearing full implementation of an extensive environmental program in Latin America for oil-spill detection and disaster prevention. This program includes a one-year contract with RSI for the supply of Earth-observation satellite images, along with emergency programming and near-real-time processing services.

RADARSAT-1 satellite imagery helps Petrobras foster sustainable development through its investment of more than US$1 billion over the next four years to ensure both that environmental risks are reduced and its facilities are safe. Since 1993, Petrobras has worked closely with RSI to obtain spatial information for an oil-spill model that would determine the position and extent of any oil spill over time. The Brazilian organization relies on the RADARSAT-1 program to capture and deliver images in near-real time and within 4 hours after data acquisition, a crucial limit when dealing with marine oil spills in a part of the world that is cloud-covered much of the year.

For further information, please contact Cory Rossignol at RADARSAT International, Richmond, British Columbia, Canada. Tel: (604) 231-5000. E-mail: [email protected].

CARIS Hydrographic Production Source Database for CHS

The Atlantic Region of the Canadian Hydrographic Service (CHS) has awarded CARIS a contract to deliver their Hydrographic Production Source (HPS) database for integration with the CHS Bathymetric Source Data Base (BSDB). The HPS database leverages Oracle spatial technology to support the production operations of hydrographic offices. This project will extend the capabilities of the existing Canadian Hydrographic Service BSDB of sounding and related metadata to include the management of source data points, lines and areas.

Integration of the CARIS HPS database and the existing CHS source database will be facilitated by extending the session layer that is already in place at CHS. Developed and implemented by Holonics Data Management Group Ltd. (Hull, Quebec, Canada), the session layer functions as an interface to manage and coordinate the operation of the system, and also creates a process and workflow audit trail.

CARIS provides software solutions to hydrographic and marine organizations for chart production systems.

For further information, please contact Sheri Flanagan at CARIS, 264 Rookwood Avenue, Fredericton, NB, Canada, E3B 2M2. Tel: (506) 458-8533. E-mail: [email protected].

Sanborn Picked for Multi-Year Mapping Project of New York City

The Sanborn Map Company has been contracted to update the mapping services for New York City's GIS land base, colloquially known as "NYCMAP." The initial phase of this multi-year update project is expected to wrap up within a year and will involve updating existing data for Manhattan and Staten Island, plus parts of Brooklyn and the Bronx. As one segment of this overall project, Sanborn will produce "true orthophotos" wherein distortions typically associated with standard orthophotos of urban areas will be removed.

New York City government agencies will continue to use this updated NYCMAP as their key GIS product. The land base was used extensively by the city to support mapping and GIS applications in response to the World Trade Center attack of September 11.

Hunter College in New York City will be responsible for the overall program management that includes quality control and quality assurance. Sanborn will work closely with the college's Center for the Analysis and Research of Spatial Information (CARSI) on all phases of the project.

Sanborn offers a full suite of GIS and photogrammetric mapping services that includes GIS consulting, data acquisition, digital mapping, and data conversion.

For further information, please contact Amy Drescher at Sanborn Map Company Inc., 629 Fifth Avenue, Pelham, NY 10803. Tel: (800) 930-3298. E-mail: [email protected].

3D Nature Introduces Visual Nature Studio 1.1

3D Nature LLC recently unveiled Visual Nature Studio (VNS) 1.1, the company's newest offering in photo-realistic landscape visualization software. VNS extends the features of their World Construction Set with new capabilities and workflow improvements for GIS professionals.

VNS 1.1 can import such files as ESRI .E00 raster DEM, ESRI .ADF raster DEM, and United Kingdom Ordnance Survey NTF DNM. It can export ESRI ArcView shapefiles (2D and 3D with attributes) and also supports the New Zealand Map Grid coordinate system. Improved features include Arc PRJ-file loader that recognizes the new-style OpenGIS PRJ format written by ArcView. Shapefile ReImport has the ability to auto-conform vectors following importation. Shapefile Import adds a user-specified layer to all entities found within the file.

For further information please contact 3D Nature LLC, 5740 Olde Wadsworth Blvd, Arvada, CO 80002. Tel: (303) 659-4028. Web address: www.3dnature.com.

RMSI Opens Colorado Office, Adds New VP

RMSI recently announced that Brian Soliday has joined the company as its vice president of sales for the Americas. Soliday will be responsible for developing and managing the company's sales and business development activities throughout the Western Hemisphere. In support of this expansion, RMSI has opened a new office in Boulder, Colo.

Before joining RMSI, Soliday was executive vice president of global sales and marketing for Space Imaging LLC. Prior to Space Imaging, he was director of GIS sales development for Autodesk and GIS business development manager for Trimble Navigation. Soliday holds a master's degree in geography (specializing in GIS and remote sensing) from the University of Nebraska (Omaha). He is currently a regional director of the Rocky Mountain Region of ASPRS.

RMSI is an information technology services company that provides GIS and spatial solutions and application software development services. The company's data and software solutions include products for wireless telecommunications, civil engineering, and location-based services (telematics).

For further information, please contact Brian Soliday at RMSI, 4450 Arapahoe Ave., Suite 100, Boulder, CO 80303. Tel: (303) 415-2089. E-mail: [email protected].

ImageAmerica(TM) Announces DirectOrtho Project For Natchitoches Parish

ImageAmerica Inc. has completed its collection of six-inch, high-resolution digital imagery for approximately 240 square miles of Natchitoches Parish, La. Production of new, map-accurate ortho-imagery from the project is expected to begin shortly, with delivery of the digital ortho data set scheduled for April 2002.

Using its patented DDP-2, direct digital aerial camera system, ImageAmerica provides government entities and private concerns with six-inch-resolution and one-foot-resolution, map-accurate, countywide ortho-imagery.

For additional information, please contact Tom Maher at ImageAmerica Inc., 200 South Hanley Road, Suite 1050, Clayton, MO 63105. Tel: (800) 275-0133. E-mail: [email protected].

Intermap Provides Elevation Data to Space Imaging

Space Imaging of Thornton, Colo., has purchased data from Intermap Technologies Inc. covering the islands of Puerto Rico and Jamaica. Intermap's STAR-3i IFSAR technology provides Space Imaging with elevation models that allow them to produce and deliver map-accurate IKONOS imagery, addressing both seasonal and diurnal cloud-cover constraints typical of many islands throughout the Caribbean. The digital elevation data for Puerto Rico will come from Intermap's data store, GLOBAL Terrain.com, while digital elevation models for Jamaica are currently being collected.

Intermap Technologies Inc. captures and produces digital mapping data for use in a wide range of applications, including planning and engineering projects, navigation systems, and to enhance the accuracy and detail of satellite images.

For further information, please contact Brian Bullock at Intermap, 400 Inverness Drive South, Suite 330, Englewood, CO 80112. Tel: (303) 708-0955. E-mail: [email protected].

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