Top Stories
Mapflow adds new dimension to Irish mapping
Mapflow, the leading geographic data and location based technology company, has produced the most accurate and comprehensive virtual 3D models ever developed of Dublin, Cork, Galway, Limerick and Waterford. The Mapflow virtual models represent each and every urban structure to include 3D outlines of buildings, roofs and vegetation. The 3D digital models were designed and developed primarily to assist telecommunications companies to plan future networks, but the data has wider application across a range of sectors, including town planning and architectural work, utility and infrastructure planning, virtual games and emergency services. A number of telecommunications companies including ESAT Telecom, Lucent, Chorus, Siemens and Nortel have already licensed these 3D models to assist with their complex network planning.
Visit :
www.mapflow.com
Royal Navy to use ECW as part of defence imagery system
Earth Resource Mapping has announced that the Royal Navy have adopted the patented ECW (Enhanced Compressed Wavelet) compression format for handling Defence imagery in the 'ChartLink HUGIN' system developed by TENET Defence Ltd. ECW is the innovative technology responsible for compressing terabytes of information at high speeds without sacrificing resolution.
TENET Defence Ltd have been selected to further develop the 'HUGIN' system that was used extensively by the RN last year as a technology demonstrator to help visualise and produce the maritime Recognised Environmental Picture (REP). In order to improve image delivery and storage ECW format will be used in order to significantly improve raster handling for quick tactical analysis.
Visit :
www.EarthEtc.com
Rockwell Collins provides GPS equipment for U.K. BOWMAN Program
Rockwell Collins has been selected by CDC Systems U.K., Ltd., a business unit of General Dynamics, to provide embedded and handheld military Global Positioning System (GPS) equipment for the United Kingdom Ministry of Defense BOWMAN program. Rockwell Collins will provide more than 37,000 GPS receivers and accessories, at a contract value of more than $86 US million. The BOWMAN program will deliver the British Army's next generation tactical communications system and comprises secure voice/data radio and intercom equipment, computers, a tactical Internet and system management software. The GPS equipment will be built in the United States and U.K., installed in more than 20,000 vehicles, ships and aircraft, and fielded for use by 60,000 personnel. Delivery of Collins new third-generation handheld Precision Lightweight GPS Receiver (PLGR)-III and Miniature PLGR Engine (MPE-S) equipment under the BOWMAN program will begin in early 2002 and continue over five years.
Visit :
www.rockwellcollins.com
EarthSat purchases eCognition software for landcover mapping
Earth Satellite Corporation (EarthSat) has purchased eCognition for its near automated feature and information extraction capabilities. For over 30 years, Earth Sat has been creating landcover databases using Earth imaging satellites. EarthSat's GeoCover LC program is extracting landcover information from the Landsat TM images. EarthSat is exploring the use eCognition's image segmentation and classification tools to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of the production process. EarthSat is also evaluating eCognition's unique object-oriented, data fusion and spatial context technology to determine if it will improve the otherwise extensive manual process involved in feature extraction and landcover change analysis from high resolution imagery.
Visit :
www.earthsat.com and
www.definiens-imaging.com
Real time location tracking imagery solution for web sites by ERM
Earth Resource Mapping (ERM) has announced a web site template for real time tracking applications using the new Image Web Server 1.6 release. The application, which can be viewed at www.EarthEtc.com, tightly integrates imagery, real time location coordinate feeds such as GPS input, and GIS map layer data within an easy to use web based interface. Key features of the Image Web Server 1.6 solution include the ability to include real time location tracks over high resolution image mosaics for a city (might be 200GB or more in size), and to provide fast access without overloading web serves.
Visit :
www.EarthEtc.com
Space Imaging Releases IKONOS Image of Mount Etna
This four-meter resolution satellite image of the top of Mount Etna, Sicily was collected by Space Imaging's IKONOS satellite on July 31, 2001. The image shows the prominent white smoke plume rising from the volcano. Etna has been spewing molten lava, ash and rock from fractures on its southern slope for the last two weeks, forcing a state of emergency in the surrounding area. Imagery such as this can be used in disaster assessment, damage assessment, emergency management, and insurance and risk management. IKONOS travels 423 miles above the Earth's surface at a speed of 17,500 miles per hour. The 1600-pound satellite was launched in Sept. 1999 and is owned and operated by Space Imaging in Denver, Colorado.
Visit :
www.spaceimaging.com
Andrew acquires GPS antenna manufacturer Micro Pulse
Andrew Corporation has announced that it has acquired Micro Pulse Incorporated, a Camarillo, California-based global manufacturer of wireless and Global Positioning System (GPS) Antennas. "This new acquisition gives us immediate access to new products and markets," said Charles Jacobs, Group President, Wireless and In-Building Products, "but more importantly, we gain a world-class design team with proven experience in developing commercial GPS solutions for the global market." GPS antennas made by Micro Pulse are currently used by Hertz for its national rental car fleet. Micro Pulse also supplies telematics antennas to QUALCOMM, Inc. for the OmniTRACS(R) satellite-based mobile communications and tracking system.
Visit :
www.andrew.com
Maine Department of Environmental Protection uses BeyondGeo to report oil spill cleanup efforts
As the Maine DEP assessed the damage done by the oil spill of the September 27th crash into the Million Dollar Bridge by the oil tanker, Julie N, they understood the need to make the information
as accessible as possible to the public, environmental groups and interested parties…BeyondGeo was the solution. On September 27th, the oil tanker Julie N, inbound with a cargo of 8.8 million gallons of #2 fuel oil, struck the south side of the Million Dollar Bridge spanning Portland Harbor between Portland and South Portland, Maine, spilling 179,634 gallons of oil. The Maine DEP established a web site to inform the public about the processes for cleanup, assessment and the
development of restoration plans for environmental damage that occurred as a result of this spill.
Using existing maps, aerial photographs and the detailed reports gathered through their assessment efforts, the Maine DEP used Blue Marble Geographics' BeyondGeo solution, to easily create an interactive map driven from their database of field observations. The map is located at
Visit :
http://janus.state.me.us/dep/rwm/JulieN/story3.htm
Asia News
Geo-Research Pakistan partners with Earth Resource Mapping
Earth Resource Mapping has announced the formation of a strategic partnership with Geo-Research, Pakistan. Geo-Research, a leading multidisciplinary Geographical Information Services (GIS) consultancy company, intends to sell and endorse ER Mapper in the Punjab, North-West Frontier Province in Pakistan.
Earth Resource Mapping appointed Geo-Research to distribute ER Mapper products throughout Pakistan because of the increased demand in Pakistan and its capabilities to provide end-to-end solutions to clients including Remote Sensing, Mineral Exploration, Hydrogeology and GIS.
Pioneered in 1989, Geo-Research has successfully penetrated the Pakistan GIS arena by incorporating the latest techniques, coupled with a proficient team of high-level professionals specializing in digital image processing, analysis and interpretation of data.
Dr. Abdullah Mah, Special Applications & Training Manager said, "With Geo-Research’s vast experience in Remote Sensing, GIS and consultancy services we are confident that they will provide a high standard of services to our clients".
Source: Directions Magazine
JETRO says trade in IT decelerating
The Japan External Trade Organization said Thursday that global trade in products related to information technology, which has supported growth in world trade since 1999, has been slowing rapidly since the beginning of this year.
In an annual report on trade, the semigovernmental organization said that while international specialization in the assembly and production of IT-related parts has developed, the burst of the so-called IT bubble in the United States has hit exports from and imports to Asia and other regions, underlining the worldwide slump in IT.
But the growth has decelerated since the second half of last year, bringing about a 4.9 percent decline in IT imports to the U.S. during the January-May period, while IT exports from South Korea fell 13.6 percent and those from Taiwan fell 9.5 percent. Exports from Japan marked an 11.6 percent decline, indicating the U.S. slowdown has caused a chain reaction in Asia.
Despite the deceleration in world IT markets, both IT exports from and imports to China in the January-May period expanded some 25 percent, the report says, adding the country's exports and imports increased four times over the 1990s. Explaining the expansion in Chinese trade, the report says: "Within overall global strategies, Japanese, U.S. and European manufacturers have chosen China as a key manufacturing base in the sphere of consumer goods
Source: The Japan Times: Aug. 3, 2001
Disaster control plan for Karachi has become obsolete, say officials
KARACHI: Senior officials of the Karachi administration, Civil Defense and emergency services have admitted that the disaster control plan for the port city needs a lot to be upgraded and the metropolis is vulnerable to any natural calamity.
"In the presence of lack of coordination and non-dependable attitude of certain departments and agencies, the only balancing factor is the strong role being played by the non-governmental organizations and the public," an administration official said.
"Lack of available funds is also a major problem, which hits preparedness of emergency services and provision by civic agencies, as a result such service providers are under-staffed and ill-equipped," he added.
Speaking at a seminar on Dealing with Rains and Flood Emergencies organized by the Pakistan Press Foundation, Commissioner Karachi Shafiqur Rehman Paracha said: "It is the blessing of God that Karachi survives through the emergencies."
"There is a disaster control plan for the city but it is outdated and not practically effective. The authorities are working to improve it and recommendations and proposals are constantly received from various non-governmental organizations and research institutions," he maintained.
The commissioner said that dealing with emergencies is not the sole responsibility of the government and the public, volunteer agencies and NGOs have a major role to play in this respect. To get effective results, a high degree of coordination is needed, he said.
Source: Pakistan Link
