In News 
Telemorphic launches free Afghanistan Web Mapping Site
Telemorphic, Inc., a leading innovator of Web-based mapping and Internet GIS products and services, has announced the launch of the first publicly available interactive Web-based GIS and satellite image visualization service for Afghanistan and surrounding environs. The Afghanistan map service is built entirely with public domain data including low-resolution digital elevation models, medium-resolution Landsat Thematic Mapper (TM) satellite imagery, and small-scale roads, rivers, populated places, and political boundaries. The site is powered by Telemorphic's Java-based Maplicity product and Redlands, CA-based ESRI's ArcIMS Internet GIS server software. Maplicity is Telemorphic's innovative lightweight 100% Java applet that provides a highly interactive user experience over the Internet, through real-time GIS and image visualization tools, in addition to the Web-based delivery of geospatial content. Datasets currently available in the Afghanistan map service include Landsat TM satellite imagery from the NASA Earth Science Enterprise/Data Buy Program, produced under contract by Earth Satellite Corporation (Rockville, MD), as well as hill-shaded relief products derived from the GTOPO30 digital elevation data available from USGS-EDC. NIMA (National Imagery Mapping Agency) VMAP0 vector data provided the basis for the country boundary, road network, rivers, lakes, and populated places.
Visit: http://www.telemorphic.com/afghan.htm
Top Stories
The City of Saskatoon Implements Enterprise GIS
The City of Saskatoon has selected ESRI Canada to implement an enterprise geographic information system (GIS) for the city. The City has been working closely with ESRI Canada's Prairie Region, and in July 2001, contracted the company's national Enterprise Solutions Group (ESG) to perform an enterprise needs analysis. The purpose was to examine the current data sets, data models and data maintenance procedures of Saskatoon and to recommend an implementation strategy for an enterprise geodatabase using ESRI's ArcGIS software. GIS in the City was highly decentralized with each department maintaining their own data sets. A GIS Management Committee was formed to consolidate GIS efforts and move towards a more corporate or enterprise model. The Management Committee decided to implement an enterprise GIS to facilitate data sharing across departments and to eliminate data redundancy. An additional requirement of the implementation of an Enterprise GIS was scalability allowing the GIS to grow with the City's ongoing requirements. The City of Saskatoon chose ESRI's product line for the implementation of the Enterprise GIS. The City has purchased ArcSDE for storage of Enterprise GIS data, along with a number of ArcGIS seats for the display, query and maintenance of GIS data. The corporate standard RDBMS is Microsoft SQL Server, which will store all spatial and non-spatial Enterprise data. A core group of GIS users (9-12) have been trained in ESRI software to support the Enterprise GIS implementation.
Visit: www.esricanada.com
Middle east maps, Imagery, & services by LANDINFO
LAND INFO offers digital elevation models (DEM), satellite imagery, topographic maps, and feature extraction layers (i.e. roads, building footprints) for Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan, Kuwait, Iraq, Iran, Pakistan, United Arab Emirates, and other regions. Satellite imagery is available for many regional cities in 0.95-meter and 2-meter resolution. DEMs, created from source topographic maps, are available in 3 arc-second and 30-meter grid postings. LAND INFO offers topographic maps in 1:50,000, 1:100,000, and 1:200,000 scales for much of the region.
Visit: http://www.landinfo.com/1.products.htm
Earthquake Studies: Californian Fault Moving Faster Than Believed
Scientists at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., and the University of California, Los Angeles, have concluded that earthquake fault zones in California's eastern Mojave Desert are moving in different ways than they expected. For years researchers were aware that movement in the southern California shear zone was distributed over a 100- kilometer (60-mile) wide area. However, they assumed that deep below the surface the Blackwater Little Lake and the Garlock faults were creeping steadily, something that the new study seems to contradict. New findings indicate that more than half of the right- lateral motion of the Eastern California shear zone is sharply concentrated along the Blackwater Little Lake fault system. Scientists arrived at the conclusion after studying radar interferometry data collected by satellites over the last eight years. Radar interferometry is a method to map the topography and displacement of the Earth's surface with extreme accuracy. A paper with the findings is in the Nov. 1, 2001, issue of the journal Geology. Read complete article at: http://www.spacedaily.com/news/earthquake-01f.html
Asia News
China Gears Up For Shenzhou-3 Launch In Coming Months
News of prelaunch activities of Shenzhou-3 (SZ-3) surfaced again in recent weeks while a Chinese space official reiterated the national pursuit of manned spaceflight.
On Oct. 1 China News Service quoted Wang Liheng, General Manager of China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) as saying that "Chinese manned spaceflight technology has achieved significant breakthroughs. After several more unmanned test flights, China will eventually realize the long cherished wish of sending its yuhangyuans ("astronauts") into space." Wang made the comment to a group of more than 20 visiting senior executives from the Hong Kong news media. The contingent toured the CASC facility here on Sept. 30, the day before the 52nd anniversary of the National Day.
Science and Technology Daily reported last week that the area of flight control technology had gained important advancement. The Beijing Aerospace Command and Control Centre (BACCC), which is the primary mission control centre, has made key technological breakthroughs such as transparency in flight control, high precision orbit determination, flight planning automation, reentry and landing control forecasting, and visualization of monitoring displays.
Building on past experience, BACCC strengthens its capability of processing realtime orbital data and correcting errors in spacecraft orbital positions to a world advanced level. For example, the centre can receive, process and query large quantity of realtime data. This allows rapid and more accurate flight controlling, and for the first time in special incident analysis and software-based flight planning automation and control.
There is also significant improvement in displaying realtime data. The five-year old BACCC implemented the first multilayer, multimedia monitoring display system in the nation. Integrating technologies of flight control, virtual reality and multimedia, the centre utilizes a 3-D animation display system driven by realtime flight control data, a geographic information system (GIS), and a visual simulation system.
In the crucial area of reentry control, mission controllers refines control and forecasting techniques of lifting reentry that rivals international levels. For the next unmanned test mission SZ-3, although there has been no official words on prelaunch preparation, the Chinese Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology (CALT) indicated on Oct. 12 that the CZ-2F launcher for SZ-3 received flight certification in Beijing.
Read complete Article at: http://www.spacedaily.com/news/china-01zz.html
Infy to assist UK health services
BANGALORE, Nov. 5- INFOSYS Technologies Ltd on Monday announced that it has launched specialised services for the public sector with an assignment for the National Health Services (NHS) UK.
The public sector practice of the company will focus on information and service aggregation aimed at reducing transaction costs and defining new levels of public service, a company release said.
Commenting on public sector practice, Mr N.R. Narayana Murthy, Chairman and CEO, said: ``Progressive Governments are embracing technology as a way to facilitate transparency and efficiency in governance and are offering services similar to those in the private sector.
"Therefore, Infosys has identified Government as a focus area."
NHS has engaged Infosys to enable all general practitioners and hospitals to access patient records electronically using Electronic Record Data Implementation Programme (ERDIP).
Infosys will assist NHS with programme management, technical co-ordination, data migration, system integration and design and build the ERDIP pilot for patients with coronary heart disease.
After an initial engagement for South West Devon Hospital, Infosys is to assist NHS in the national roll-out of ERDIP across all 240 NHS hospitals.
Source: Business Line
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