airbornelasermapping.com Acquired by Airborne 1 Corporation
Airborne 1 Corporation has acquired the LiDAR mapping resource and reference web site airbornelasermapping.com. Recognized as an online source for industry news, technical information, research notes and related links, airbornelasermapping.com provides information pertinent to the LiDAR industry.
      The original creator of airbornelasermapping.com, Martin Flood, is now employed as Airborne 1's Chief Technical Officer. "When I joined Airborne 1 as CTO earlier this year, I was concerned that I would have to shut down the site. But feedback from many of the site's visitors and leaders in the LiDAR industry led me to look for another alternative." Mr. Flood explains. "When Airborne 1 offered to acquire the site while maintaining an arm's length relationship, I saw this as the best option for keeping the site active. With Airborne 1's support and additional resources, I can develop the site further. My original goals for the web site which were to promote the technology, educate the end-user, and create a community remain unchanged."
      "LiDAR mapping is drawing more and more interest from our clients." said Todd Stennett, CEO Airborne 1. "We wanted to step in and support the site as an objective resource in a rapidly expanding area. We want to provide our clients access to information that will let them make informed, intelligent decisions about LiDAR technology."
      Airborne 1 provides flexible access to advanced LiDAR technology for clients in the photogrammetry, surveying and mapping fields. Airborne 1's digital mapping services and solutions include a dedicated airborne LiDAR survey group operating Optech ALTM sensors; flexible fractional ownership plans for clients without dedicated access to LiDAR technology; LiDAR data processing, analysis and application development; LiDAR field survey coordination and project management.
      For more information, contact: Airborne 1 Corporation, 5777 W. Century Blvd. #725, Los Angeles, CA, 90045, Phone: 310.342.7100, Fax: 310.342.7109, Email: [email protected]

3Di Named "Collaborator of the Year" by Natural Resources Institute
Integrated mapping, remote sensing and professional services company 3Di (Easton, Maryland) received a "Collaborator of the Year" award from the Natural Resource Institute for its work with the USDA - Agricultural Research Services (ARS) Remote Sensing and Modeling Laboratory.
      3Di's William Bernard, Lee Watson and Oliver Weatherbee received recognition for their work in system development, mission planning, data collection, data processing and publication of airborne Remote Sensing research for precision agriculture applications. Dr. Charles Walthall of ARS nominated them for the award. 3Di, with remote sensing offices in Colorado and Maryland, uses a full range of remote sensing tools, such as optical and radar satellite images,airborne LIDAR and Hyperspectral sensors, as well as aerial photography, to answer client's questions.
      3Di's LIDAR technologies provide mapping data for flood plains, erosion control, telecommunications planning, route planning, tough access areas, forestry and corridor mapping for transportation,installation and planning. 3Di's hyperspectral products are used in the management of wetlands, environmental disaster monitoring, coral reef mapping and precision agriculture.
      3Di recently mapped the Patuxent River Oil Spill using hyperspectral data from a GPS-based remote sensor. For precision agriculture, 3Di's hyperspectral sensor images are used to create signature files, or spectral definitions, of selected agricultural crops. With these files, land managers might make precise applications of pesticides, herbicides and fertilizers, significantly reducing hazardous waste and run-off and the cost of unnecessary chemicals for the fields.
      The Natural Resource Institute's Remote Sensing & Modeling Lab (RS&ML) applies systems theory to the solution of complex agricultural problems and the development of computer-aided farm decision support systems. In addition, the RS&ML develops remote sensing and associated technologies to provide information critical to the production of food and fiber and the inventory and management of natural resources. The RS&ML also provides research to analyze and design systems, to develop models and expert systems, and to generate and evaluate databases.
      For more informatiion, contact: Bill Bernard, 3Di, LLC, 410.770.6001 DIRECT 410.310.1854 CELL, e-mail: [email protected]

PCI Geomatics Supports LizardTech's MrSID Technology
PCI Geomatics announced support for LizardTech Inc.'s MrSID technology within the full PCI Geomatics product line. This agreement allows users of PCI Geomatics software to read and display MrSID files directly through PCI Geomatics' GeoGateway®. Through the GeoGateway, support for MrSID has been introduced to the full suite of the PCI Geomatics product line, including EASI/PACE®, OrthoEngine®, SPANS®, ACE®, FLY!®, APEX , and PCI Geomatics' newest and most complete software solution, Geomatica™.
      GeoGateway, a translation component standard in all new PCI Geomatics products or available separately, provides users with direct geospatial data transfer capabilities that permit read and write access to more than 80 data formats without the need for conversion. MrSID is the standard file format within the geospatial market.
      MrSID is LizardTech's revolutionary wavelet technology for significantly reducing the size of high-resolution images while maintaining quality and integrity of the original. By embracing LizardTech's patented MrSID Imaging Language, PCI Geomatics customers are capable of offering stunning high-resolution images of virtually any size directly from their Web site. Panning and zooming features allow users to explore detail-rich images. When zooming in, image quality is quickly accessed, loaded, and preserved at each magnification.
      For more information, contact: Anthony Melihen, PCI Geomatics, Corporate Communications (905) 764-0614, Ext.242, [email protected] Laura Dodd, LizardTech, PR Manager, (206) 652-5211, [email protected]

Ohio State Student Honored with LH Systems ASPRS Award
The LH Systems Internship, one of the premier annual awards made by the American Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing (ASPRS), Bethesda, Maryland, USA, was presented to Mr. Panayiotis Zafiropoulos, a Ph.D. candidate at the Center for Mapping, The Ohio State University, during the ASPRS 2000 Annual Convention in Washington, DC. The award enables Mr. Zafiropoulos to work for two months at LH Systems' San Diego headquarters, exploring the applicability of his work in automated feature extraction and other areas to LH Systems' market-leading SOCET SET¨ software for digital photogrammetry.
      As he presented the award to Mr. Zafiropoulos, George Southard, LH Systems' Regional Sales Director for the Americas, commented, "Mr. Zafiropoulos is an excellent candidate, who has already built up a solid record of research and publication in digital photogrammetry. It gives me great pleasure to present this award, which not only extends the winner's experience but also exposes LH Systems' software engineers to his expertise and ideas. This activity underlines our continuing commitment to the professional aspects of our work and our wish to seek synergies with the universities and research institutes in the future." A description of the Internship can be found on the ASPRS Web site at http://www.asprs.org/membership.html.
      For more information contact: Stewart Walker, LH Systems, LLC, 10965 Via Frontera San Diego, CA 92127-1703, USA, telephone +1 (858) 675-3335 x112 fax +1 (858) 675-3345, e-mail [email protected], Web www.lh-systems.com.

Swiss Cable Utility Cablecom Implements Enterprise GIS
With 1.3 million customers, Switzerland's leading cable network provider, Cablecom, has implemented an enterprise geographic information system (GIS) based on software and database technology from ESRI and Telcordia Technologies. MESA Solutions, a Telcordia Company, is providing consulting and systems integration services.
      The company's new Network Information System (NIS), provides a fully automated solution for managing its 4,000- kilometer fiber network. NIS was developed using Spatial Database Engine (SDE) software from ESRI, which allows spatial data and applications to be fully integrated within Cablecom's Oracle relational database management system (DBMS).
      NIS also takes advantage of ArcFM, a powerful ArcInfo-based application for the editing, maintenance, modeling, and data management of utility information. ArcFM is all-relational utility application software developed using ArcInfo software's Open Development Environment and object-oriented programming. In addition, ArcView GIS will be used as a desktop GIS for query and visualization of GIS data.
      The spatially enabled Oracle DBMS will serve spatial data to Network Engineer and FiberNet client applications. Developed by Telcordia and MESAesa Solutions, Network Engineer provides design, documentation, and network maintenance capabilities. The application provides the typical engineering user with the ability to inventory copper network plant equipment, fiber network plant equipment, coaxial network equipment, and supporting structure data that can be used to interactively build a connected network of each type. FiberNet, developed by Swiss software company Powersoft, allows automated generation of schematic views.
      The NIS allows users to create customized network maps embedded with intelligence. This intelligence allows the system to: document network facilities, such aslike fiber cables; quickly solve complex geographical problems; trace connectivity between network points; and, manage network.
      "Our NIS system will give us a fast, flexible means to manage utility asset information in an optimized fashion," says Juerg Rubin, network information system (NIS) project manager, Cablecom. "The combined strengths of Telcordia, MESA, and ESRI helped us to successfully complete our pilot in just three months. We are excited to proceed with full implementation."
      Successful completion of the pilot phase of the project was achieved after rigorous testing. Full implementation began in February of 2000, and initial data conversion is anticipated to conclude in the third quarter of 2000.
      ESRI was founded in 1969 as a research group devoted to improving methods of handling geographically referenced data. Today, ESRI is the leading developer of geographic information system (GIS) software, with more than 100,000 clients worldwide. ESRI also provides consulting, implementation, and technical support services. In addition to its headquarters in California, ESRI has regional offices throughout the United States, international distributors in more than 70 countries, and more than 500 resellers and developers. ESRI's goal is to provide users with comprehensive tools to help them quickly and efficiently manage and use geographic information to make a real difference in the world around them. ESRI can be found on the World Wide Web at www.esri.com. For more information, ESRI can be found on the Web at www.esri.com.

Autodesk Powers Northern Ireland Electricity
Northern Ireland Electricity (NIE), the supplier of power to over half a million customers throughout Northern Ireland, has successfully implemented an enterprise Geographic Network Information System (GNIS) using Autodesk VISION*¨ technology. GNIS is installed at NIE's Central Support Center in Belfast and provides the engineering and planning departments with instant access to a powerful knowledge base of mapping information on its network and physical assets including substations, pylons and cabling. Centralized access to this data is of benefit to workers in the office and in the field.
      For instance, helicopter crews conducting status checks on power lines can access the GNIS data remotely and count on the reliability and accuracy of the data.
      "Previously, information on NIE's network was held on thousands of paper-based maps," said Craig Mitchell, deputy project manager, NIE, "some of which were deteriorating rapidly, were difficult to access and not always accurate. The single map record will give us immediate and up-to-date information on any one location within the network, enabling a faster and more accurate response to a crisis, such as a power failure."
      "GNIS is in the early stages of implementation but we are already able to see significant benefits," he confirmed. "As a major utility we are constantly updating and expanding our network. The information contained in GNIS enables us to plan for the future development of our assets, ultimately enabling NIE to deliver a far more efficient service to its customers."
      This highly scaleable map-based asset management/engineering system, provides a one-stop enterprise GIS solution that extends from desktop clients to the enterprise database. It offers significant operational and strategic advantages, integrating mission-critical engineering and spatial data with the rest of a company's information in a highly scaleable, open organization-wide IT framework. Autodesk's unparalleled client-oriented engineering and mapping solutions incorporate VISION*'s expertise in relational database management system (RDBMS) technologies. The key feature of the Autodesk VISION* core solution is that all data is stored directly in the Oracle database, so no proprietary formats are involved. This offers flexibility and efficiency through seamless integration with third party products.
      For more information, contact any Authorized Autodesk Reseller, call Autodesk at 800-964-6432, or visit www.autodesk.com. Or, Contact: Tara Cooper, Autodesk, 415-507-5638 [email protected]

RSI Announces Savings of up to 25% on RADARSAT-1 Data and Services!
RADARSAT International (RSI), a wholly-owned subsidiary of MacDonald Dettwiler, announced a substantial pricing reduction in the cost of RADARSAT-1 data and services. Lowered costs for RADARSAT data, archived data, services and volume pricing make RADARSAT-1 highly accessible to the remote sensing user community. New pricing is in effect as of June 12, 2000.
      RADARSAT-1 pricing changes include; lower costs and simplified pricing structure for data (starting at only 2,750 US$); more attractive data volume pricing with new 25 scene entry point; exceptionally low costs for archive data (data acquired prior to Jan. 01/99) - at only 1,500 US$; and a 500 US$/scene price drop for RSI's world renowned Near-Real Time and Rush processing services (within 2-4 hours and 48 hours respectively).
      Reductions in cost will enable all RSI clientele to benefit. New reduced volume pricing will further attract the attention of international clients working on large monitoring projects such as rice crop monitoring, oil pollution monitoring, and ship surveillance. Lower data and archive pricing presents an excellent opportunity for further work in change detection applications such as forestry clear-cut detection, shoreline erosion or aquaculture expansion.
      For more information, contact: Kate Stephens or Helen Apostolis Communications Department, RADARSAT International 1-(604) 231-5000 [email protected] or [email protected] RELATED WEBSITES: RADARSAT International: www.rsi.ca MacDonald Dettwiler: www.mda.ca

Canada's Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade Lauds Global Geomatics Trade-Expanding Mission to Japan
Global Geomatics announced support from Canada's Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade (DFAIT) for the company's commercial trade mission to Japan.
      Global Geomatics enjoys an international position as one of the top 6 GIS software editors where quality is concerned, one of the 10 best producers of integrated high-performance GIS tools and cartographic data, arguably the best cartography-related Application Service Provider (ASP), and the host for today's biggest cartographic web sites dealing in maps, drawings, and photogrammetric and satellite images.
      In commenting on the Federal Government department's support, company President and CEO Gilles ClŽment emphasizes how the mission will not only stimulate increased Japan-Canada trade, but will also offer Japanese firms an exceptional opportunity to profit from Global Geomatics' expertise in all areas relating to geographic data access, diffusion and interaction. These sectors include: Multi-platform web-driven mapping software design, development and marketing; geoenhancementª of wireless telecommunications, mobile computing and multimedia networks; cartographic and geodata-producer Web site and Web portal development; system architecture design and business support for Application Service Providers (ASP's). And Global Geomatics' leading role in the expansion of the mainstream market for satellite and photogrammetric imagery (via important connections with leading satellite data producers) is certain to be a key selling point when dealing with organizations in a region where such data plays a critical role in agricultural development (in rice-growing areas especially).
      Based on pre-mission contacts and extensive market research, company executives confidently expect the trade mission to generate collaborative-business opportunities of several $million. An intensive round of discussions with both private and public-sector decision-makers has been scheduled.
      Global Geomatics also announced, in keeping with its stated mission of promoting the expansion of Quebec businesses and fostering the creation of new markets, Quebec's minist�re de l'Industry et du Commerce (Ministry of Industry and Commerce-MIC) has given full support to Global Geomatics' current economic-initiatives mission to Japan. The enormous potential of Global Geomatics' technology-its innovative features, and the durability and reliability of the company's products and services-gained the unqualified backing of Mr. Makoto Inagaki (DGQT Commercial AttachŽ) for the company's mission to develop new markets as well as for its efforts at technological-integration with leading Japanese enterprises.
      Global Geomatics offers Japanese firms an exceptional opportunity to benefit from the company's expertise in several areas relating to geographic data access, diffusion and interaction, including: Multi-platform web-driven mapping software design, development and marketing; geoenhancementª of wireless telecommunications, mobile computing and multimedia networks; cartographic and geodata-producer Web site and Web portal development; system architecture design and business support for Application Service Providers (ASP's). And Global Geomatics' leading role in the expansion of the mainstream market in satellite and photogrammetric imagery (via important connections with leading satellite data producers) will certainly prove an important asset to various organizations in a region where such data plays a key role in agricultural development (especially in rice-growing areas).
      Based on its pre-mission contacts and market research, Global Geomatics confidently expects its mission to generate collaborative-business opportunities of several $million, and looks forward to in-depth discussions with both private and public-sector decision-makers.
      Company President and CEO Gilles Clement emphasizes that the strategic support from MIC underscores Global Geomatics' international position as one of the top 6 GIS software editors where quality is concerned, one of the 10 best producers of integrated high-performance GIS tools and cartographic data, arguably the best cartography-related Application Service Provider (ASP), and the host for today's biggest cartographic data-provider web sites dealing in maps, drawings, and photogrammetric and satellite images.
      For more information, contact: Mr. Thierry Lagrange at [email protected]or www.globalgeo.com , GLOBAL GEOMATICS INC. #650-1600 Saint Martin Boulevard East, Tower A, Laval (Quebec), Canada H7G 4R8 Tel.: 450.668.4949, Fax: 450.668.2822

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