The declining state of the world's freshwater resources, in terms of quantity and quality, may prove to be the dominant issue on the environment and development agenda of the coming century. About one-third of the world's population lives in countries with moderate to high water stress; the problems are currently most acute in Africa and West Asia, but lack of water is already a major constraint to industrial and socio-economic growth in many other areas, including China, India and Indonesia. If present consumption patterns continue, two out of every three persons on Earth will live in water-stressed conditions by the year 2025. In order to help environmental assessment professionals and policy makers keep up to date with the most authoritative information on this critical environmental field, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) has opened the UNEP.Net Freshwater Portal, an online gateway to information about freshwater. The portal, available on the Internet at
http://freshwater.unep.net, is an extensive catalogue of information resources ranging from documents, to databases, to maps and graphics, covering the most critical freshwater issues of the day: water scarcity, irrigated agriculture, water and sanitation, water quality, groundwater, transboundary water management, water and ecosystems, floods and droughts, and urban water.
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http://freshwater.unep.net
Top Stories
Z/I Imaging announces ImageStation Mission Planning Now Shipping
Z/I Imaging Corporation announced today that it is now shipping ImageStation® Mission Planning, its new photoflight mission planning module. ImageStation Mission Planning incorporates the latest Computer-Aided Design (CAD) and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) technologies providing a rich data environment that can access scanned raster maps, vector mapping data, and digital orthophotos for flight planning. This new mission planning system addresses the usual expectation such as flying a particular azimuth, planning the most economical mission for a given region of interest and more. ImageStation Mission Plannning significantly reduces the time spent in preparing a flight plan by automating the process. The product allows users to record general information, planning requirements, coordinate definition parameters and camera parameters. Users can incorporate innovative concepts in thier flight plans, such as pin-pointing photography on specific coordinates, sheet centers, or sheet cuts; efficient planning along line features such as roads, coast lines, and more; exposure positioning according to planning requirements of GPS-supported aerial triangulation; and pre-determination of full frame coverage.
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www.ziimaging.com
Centuries-Old maps come alive with new interactive web browser
Visualizing historical change by way of 19th and early 20th century maps and modern age geographic data and imagery, is now a freely accessible web browser-based experience and part of the award-winning David Rumsey Historical Map Collection (http://www.davidrumsey.com/), an Internet site featuring over 6,500 high-resolution digital images from one of the largest private map collections in the U.S. First of its kind, the new Rumsey Internet GIS (Geographic Information System) mapping service enables web browser interaction and visualization of 11 different historical maps of San Francisco Bay, from the mid-1800's thru early-1900's, along with aerial photos, topographic map sheets, digital elevation models and satellite imagery, from the U. S. Geological Survey. Roads, lakes, parks and state boundary data are also part of the service, which will soon include historical maps of New York City, Boston, Los Angeles, Chicago, Washington, D.C., and ultimately, regions, states and continents. Rumsey's vast collection consists of over 150,000 physical maps and is considered one of the largest private collections in the U.S.
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http://www.davidrumsey.com/
Researchers to Use Satellite Duo to Measure Earth's Gravity Field
With gravity, that omnipresent force that keeps humans firmly on the Earth and prevents planets from careening out of their orbits, it's the little things that researchers are interested in. Like how melting ice reduces the force of gravity at planet's poles? On Earth, for the most part, the tug of gravity is nearly uniform. But in some places, as with the poles, changes in the amount or density of material can create pockets of high or low gravity that change from month to month. Relatively permanent differences exist, too, caused by differing densities of material deep within the planet under certain locations. Scientists hope to map these tiny variations, both in time and location, from space, using the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment, or GRACE. The pair of satellites, which will stare at each other instead of Earth, is set for launch in March. The novel setup, designed to measure gravity-induced fluctuations in distance between the two spacecraft, should also help create a better profile of the planet's atmosphere and contribute to global climate studies, researchers said. "GRACE measurements are going to be 100 times more accurate than those we have now," said Michael Watkins, project scientist for the experiment at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. "They are going to revolutionize our understanding of Earth's structure, oceans and climate and how they are changing."
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http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/planetearth/grace_011218-1.html
Autodesk announces new road output extension for civil and road engineering professionals
Autodesk, Inc., a leading design software and digital content company, has announced a new extension for any type or size of road project, including new subdivisions, road reconstruction, and new highway design. The new extension, named the Road Output Extension, is designed specifically for civil engineers and road engineering professionals to help reduce the number of manual steps traditionally required in the road design process. The Road Output Extension also provides tools for increasing the accuracy of designs, resulting in higher quality and more professional results. The Road Output Extension is for Autodesk Civil Design 3 and now available in the United States and Canada through the Autodesk® Subscription Program, a unique software delivery model that offers a convenient way for users to stay up-to-date on the latest Autodesk technology for the products on the Subscription Program. More information on additional features and benefits for the Road Output Extension can be found at www.autodesk.com/roadoutput. For more information on Autodesk's suite of end-to-end civil engineering and design software.
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www.autodesk.com/civil
Redknee's Location-based Services Selected by Digifone
Redknee Inc. has announced that Digifone, one of Ireland's leading mobile phone operators,
has selected Redknee's Location Services application to provide location services to Digifone's mobile customers in Ireland. Redknee's Synaxis ELS(tm) (Enhanced Location Services) application provides location management functionality that can be securely managed by
subscribers. The ELS* application builds on existing Redknee products providing open services architecture already deployed in Digifone. With the introduction of Synaxis ELS(tm), Digifone will be able to provide a range of new services and further strengthen their mobile services offerings. The ELS(tm) location application is one of many applications operated by
Redknee's OASIS(tm) application architecture. This product architecture integrates network functionality including real time rating, customer profiling, presence management and support for roaming. Available today, OASIS(tm) application architecture advances Open Services Architecture (OSA) design including 3GPP OSA and Parlay Group API specifications.
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www.redknee.com
Utah Buys Additional Devices to Track Vehicles at Winter Games
A coalition of Utah public safety agencies has purchased additional automatic vehicle location (AVL) components from CompassCom Inc. of Centennial, Colo., to track the locations of emergency vehicles and shuttle buses carrying athletes during the upcoming Winter Games in Salt Lake City. In May, the Utah Highway Patrol (UHP) and the Valley Emergency Communications Center (VECC) both headquartered in the Salt Lake City area, jointly purchased the CompassTrac(tm) fleet tracking system and CompassFDE(tm) AVL server from CompassCom. This AVL system utilizes GPS satellites to track the precise locations of vehicles anywhere in the Wasatch Front Range of Utah. Utah has already installed the CompassCom AVL system and uses it in daily public safety activities. The latest purchase includes additional wireless CDPD modems that will be installed in extra vehicles that have been called in to provide security at the Winter Games. When installed with a GPS unit, the wireless modems transmit vehicle location in real time to central dispatch. Dispatchers see where the vehicles are located by viewing icons on a map display screen.
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www.compasscom.com
Asia News
China to Launch Int'l Digital Info-Service & Tech Show
BEIJING, December 18 (Xinhuanet) -- China will hold its first international exhibition of digital public information service andtechnology in July next year, aiming to promote the country's digital library project.
Zhang Yanbo, deputy curator of the National Library of China, said in a news briefing here Tuesday that the four-day exhibition will display the world's latest achievements in the field. Digitalinformation equipment manufacturers and related technology and information service suppliers from around the world are expected to be present.
Meanwhile, an international seminar on the cooperation and sustainable development of digital library will be held during theexhibition. Topics of digital information standard, mode and sharing as well as issues concerning intellectual property will bediscussed.
The exhibition is hosted by the Ministry of Culture and supported by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, and the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation, along with State Administration of Radio, Film and Television, General Administration of Press and Publication and the Beijing Municipal Government.
Source:
Xinhua News Agency
Protection of the Eco-System a Priority in China
BEIJING, December 18 (Xinhuanet) -- China announced Tuesday that protection of the eco-systems of forests, deserts and wetlands are priorities in the country's drive to protect its natural legacy
during the next 50 years.
More nature reserves will be built and about one fifth of the country is to be turned into a haven for wildlife and plants. An official with the State Forestry Administration said that 58 new nature reserves are to be set up, while work on the existing 72 nature reserves will be increased, so that the tropical, sub-
tropical and temperate-zone eco-systems of forests will be better protected.
In the meantime, another 28 new nature reserves will also be established to protect shrubs and the eco-diversity of desertlands.
Efforts are already being made to improve the existing 30 desertland nature reserves and to increase scientific research in this area.
In its drive to protect wetland-based eco-systems, China is establishing 160 new wetland-based nature reserves and is stepping up the establishing of the 140 wetland-based state and provincial nature reserves. It is also keen to have a number of model zones, including mangrove wetlands along the south China coast.
The official added that China has now set up 50,300 smaller nature reserves in the country's densely populated southern areas and will construct another 497,000 more nature reserves for the efficient protection of eco-diversity and habitats of rare and endangered animals and plants.
Source:
Xinhua News Agency
