Rebuilding the Greens at the Olympic Club Lake Course
The history of San Francisco's Olympic Club dates back to 1860, making it one of the oldest such golf clubs in the country. The club has hosted four US Open tournaments over the years¬ with its fifth slated for 2012 ¬and the Lake Course enjoys...

Verdict at the Little Bighorn
There probably aren't many people alive today who have never heard of the name of Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer. Probably even fewer have never heard of the battle that made him famous.

USGS Quadrangles in Google Earth
QUADS (http://www.metzgerwillard.us/quads/) is a web-based service for visualizing USGS quadrangles in Google Earth that provides an easy-to-use framework for retrieving georeferenced PDF topo maps from the USGS Store.

On the Waterfront¬—or Not
Those who have deeds citing frontage on a body of water are very protective of that frontage. When natural phenomena such as avulsion, alluvium, or erosion change the physical proximity of a land parcel to water, we are generally familiar with the effect on boundaries.

The Magic Bullet
As the U.S. Geological Survey’s National Elevation Dataset (NED) moves the nation toward a single, seamless set of topographic data, the recently completed $5.5 million Ohio Statewide Imagery Program (OSIP) provides a blueprint for using LiDAR...

From the ground up: Change in the air
Ten years ago, Mylar or paper plots were a required deliverable for virtually all of our projects. Today, I'm not sure I could even find a roll of Mylar for one of our plotters.

Our love-hate relationship with mapping and GIS
Surveyors have seldom, if ever, referred to their own records or the records at the local office of records as GIS--but, in effect, that is what they are...

The Need for Speed
When Chris-Craft co-founder Christopher Columbus Smith broke the 60 mph speed barrier with a Detroit-based hydroplane, the Miss Detroit, in 1915 to win the American Power Boat Association (APBA) Gold Cup on Manhasset Bay near New York City, he began a legend.

GNSS and Heavy Equipment
Heavy equipment represents a major capital cost for companies in industries such as construction and agriculture. In recent years GNSS technology, which uses signals from US GPS and the Russian Glonass satellite system constellations, has been used to improve fleet efficiency.

Choosing the Best Digital Elevation Model
The process of achieving environmental stewardship is bound to available Digital Elevation Model (DEM) accuracy. A good DEM helps directly locate and monitor streams, sensible slopes and watersheds.

The Social Tenure Domain Model
In developing countries, large portions of land remain untitled, with less than 30% of cadastral coverage conforming to the situation on the ground. Where there is little land information, there is little land management.

GIS for community safety and development
e-LisoSAT has hooked up with Space Commercial Services (SCS), a company put together by former SunSpace executives focused on the utilisation of space infrastructure...

Why pay for data that should be freely available?
Notwithstanding the impressive engineering accomplishment associated with the small budget allocated to SumbandilaSat, the most significant achievement within the program is arguably the development of the open data policy governing...

Virtualisation – proper planning key for flawless execution
Many first attempts at virtualisation fail – that’s a cold hard fact. But, Herman van Heerden, managing director at Starship Systems says this has got more to do with lack of planning...

Advance Australia Fair?
For a nation of less than 22 million, Australia could be considered well represented in global spatial matters. Australians hold leading positions in at least five international non-government spatial organisations.

GPS in Regional Economies
Some recent trips to Central Queensland have reinforced my views on the importance of GPS to our regional economies.

Web Maps
Good cartography for online mapping is about what you show, how you show it and how fast. No matter how current and correct your GIS information, such distractions as slow display, spidery fonts, obscure icons or cluttered symbology will turn off an increasingly demanding public.

The SCG National Revaluation Project
Chris Ewing and Charles Whitaker look at a recent project by property and business consultants Brown & Co LLP and Halcrow Group Limited to support the Government of St Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG).

A Carbon Neutral Oasis in the Desert
Masdar City, Abu Dhabi‘s Zero-Waste City, Analyzes Every Facet of Design and Build with ArcGIS.

High-Accuracy Surveying for the Ministry of Defence
Topcon’s GRS-1 RTK network receiver provides maximum benefits for O’Marah & Morris Construction in a major defence project, recording as laid coordinates for exacting excavation work..

Critigen Looking to Carve Niche Where None Existed
Critigen, a new company recently divested from CH2M HILL, will focus on the critical infrastructure market using its expertise in geospatial technology.

Spatial Information in the New Zealand Economy
It shows that in 2008, the use and re-use of spatial information is estimated to have added $1.2 billion in productivity-related benefits to the New Zealand economy.

Google's Michael Jones on Crowdsourcing
Google surprised many in the geospatial world by offering its own data for the U.S. and inviting users to "report problems." The company also began including parcel outlines for some areas of the country.

Adaptive Classification Using Self Organizing Maps
As humans, we have an innate and natural tendency to establish patterns and associations in our environment. Consider for a moment, the capability of the human brain to “process millions of visual, acoustic, olfactory, tactile, and motor data, and…

City of Vancouver Launches OpenData Web Site
In May 2009, Vancouver City Council passed a motion that embraces the principals of open data, open standards, and open source. As a result of the Open3 motion City staff began to put together a site to accommodate the free downloading of data.