Top Stories
Intermap Technologies to map United Kingdom
Intermap Technologies announced initial agreements worth US $3.2 million for highly accurate digital maps covering most of the United Kingdom. The precedent-setting activity, called NEXTMap Britain, involves contracts with commercial clients totalling US $3.2 million. The data provided by Intermap's newest generation of digital mapping technology, will cover all of England and Wales and most of Scotland and is the next stage in Intermap's population of its GLOBAL Terrain database. NEXTMap Britain will provide customers with highly accurate Digital Elevation Models, known as DEMs, including surface models (DSMs) and terrain models (DTMs) for the whole country. The ground surface will be modelled in detail, as an elevation point will be provided every five meters. The whole country will be covered using technology that provides a one-meter vertical resolution. In urban areas and in selected flood prone areas, a second set of mapping data will be provided using Intermap's newly introduced technology, which produces a vertical accuracy of 50 centimetres. Intermap will undertake the NEXTMap Britain data acquisition between December 2001, and March 2002. The data will be sold under license through Intermap's data store, GLOBAL Terrain and through other authorized distributors in the United Kingdom.
Visit:
www.GLOBALTerrain.com &
www.intermaptechnologies.com
Maps.com goes live with GlobeXplorer's interactive aerial image viewer
GlobeXplorer, Inc., a leading technology company that distributes interactive aerial and satellite photos via the Internet, announced that Maps.com has chosen GlobeXplorer to provide interactive aerial images to Maps.com online consumers. Maps.com users who traditionally use the site to explore geography, get directions, or plan a trip can now enter a U.S. address and instantly view an interactive aerial photo provided by GlobeXplorer. The aerial images delivered to the maps.com web site are part of GlobeXplorer's extensive satellite and aerial image library, covering all of the US and over 130 major metropolitan areas worldwide. Maps.com visitors can use the new service to view aerial photos of famous landmarks, travel destinations, sporting venues or their own property. Maps.com is targeted to Internet consumers looking for driving directions and access to a wide variety of maps and geographic resources. Additionally, educators and students use the site to access maps and atlases to teach and study geography. With GlobeXplorer's imagery, students and teachers can now zoom-in on historic landmarks, survey mountains and rivers and view the nation's geography and features.
Visit:
www.Maps.com &
www.globexplorer.com
eCognition 2.0 trial version available
One year after the successful worldwide introduction of the revolutionary approach of its new object oriented image analysis system eCognition, Definiens Imaging GmbH adds further functionality, performance and ease of use to its system. The new release is linked even closer to the GIS world in that it is able to directly read and write vector information, manage raster data of different extent and resolution and handle geocoded information perfectly. The performance of time-consuming functions has been further enhanced. Especially some functions in the interactive display now take only a few seconds - even working in near real time. Users are now able to create new object features out of any combination of existing object parameters. Additionally, new shape features come along with the internal treatment of vector structures.
Visit:
http://www.definiens-imaging.com/ecognition/index.htm.
FUGAWI introduces GPS Mapping support for the Palm O/S
Northport Systems Inc., the developer of premier GPS Mapping software programs, today announced that it has incorporated complete GPS mapping support for the Palm operating system. The Northport suite of FUGAWI GPS software products, will provide for the ability to upload any map into a Palm PDA. The GPS enabled integration will allow for real-time navigation applications, as well as for upload/download of waypoints, routes and track features.
The FUGAWI suite of products allow Palm users to preplan their trips or adventures, on a PC, using any digital or paper map for anywhere in the world. These are then named and simply uploaded to the Palm. The added functionality for Handspring and Palm units, developed in Toronto, at Northport's head office, extends the versatility of GPS and PDAs across industries, markets and borders. Using any GPS receiver and any map, be it streets, topographic or nautical, Palm users can navigate a wide range of activities for hiking, boating, driving, surveying or even geo-caching!
Visit:
www.fugawi.com
IntelliWhere and GCWare address Europe's LBS surge with joint marketing and sales initiative
IntelliWhere(tm), a division of Intergraph Mapping and GIS Solutions and GCWare, spol. s r.o. have announced a joint marketing and sales initiative that brings together their products, solutions, and skills to deliver unmatched value to customers in the GIS and location-based services (LBS) markets. Addressing the LBS surge across Europe, the initiative pairs GCWare's wireless offerings - GLOSARI, GCWare Fast Routing Component Set, and GCVoice Platform - with IntelliWhere's LocationServer software to create B2B applications for the telecommunications and utilities industries as well as FMCG (Fast Moving Consumer Goods), logistics, and transportation companies. GCWare also addresses mobile service providers, including telcos and m-Internet providers, with B2C applications designed to add value to consumers.
Visit:
www.gcware.com &
www.intelliwhere.com
Butler County, Ohio selects NovaLIS' Parcel Editor & GATE solution
Butler County, Ohio is now using NovaLIS Technologies' Parcel Editor and GATE software to maintain and update the County's digital maps. "Parcel Editor and GATE are enabling us to manage our map data in coverage format, as well as store it in a much neater and cleaner Arc SDE database," says Chad Grubb, of the Butler County Auditors Office, GIS Division. Butler County began using a trial version of Parcel Editor in May 2001. Since that time, the County has used Parcel Editor to clean up its GIS data and stop relying on tax plot maps. NovaLIS' Geographic Attribute and Transaction Engine (GATE) is currently being implemented in the County. When fully implemented, GATE will enable the County to manage transactions to the minute on Arc SDE layers as well as their related Oracle tables. GATE will improve the County's access to information by transforming Arc SDE from a data warehouse to a live, transactional database.
Visit:
http://www.novalistech.com
Burt Hill Kosar Rittlemann donated Bentley education network subscription to Carnegie Mellon University
Bentley Systems, Incorporated has announced that Burt Hill Kosar Rittlemann has donated a two-year Bentley Education Network (BEN) subscription to Carnegie Mellon University's School of Architecture. The BEN subscription provides students with access to many of the best products Bentley has available, including MicroStation and all Engineering Configurations, Structural for MicroStation TriForma and Architecture for MicroStation TriForma and more.
Carnegie Mellon's architecture program combines classic architectural curriculum combined with the study of computer-aided design, which is not always typical for schools of architecture. Burt Hill Kosar Rittlemann is taking a forward-thinking approach by providing these tools to students who will eventually be entering the workforce.
Visit:
www.bentley.com.
Asia News
ERWDA hosts training course on the use of GIS
The Environmental Research and Wildlife Development Agency (ERWDA) hosted a training course in sophisticated software to enable staff members from different organisations to collect and efficiently utilise vital information.
The five-day course was held recently at the head office of ERWDA in Abu Dhabi was attended by 12 people including the agency's staff and officials from Abu Dhabi Company for Onshore Oil Operations (ADCO), the Geography Department at the UAE University and the Federal Environmental Agency (FEA).
They were trained on the use of Geographic Information Systems (GIS), a leading software tool for capturing, integrating, querying, analysing and displaying location-referenced information, according to an ERWDA official.
"Using the GIS technology, government sector organisations will be able to share environmental data," he said.
As the government-funded environmental data is scattered across many different organisations, online sharing will greatly improve the efficiency, efficacy and accuracy of environmental protection and management in the emirate, he added.
ERWDA has been promoting this concept, known as the Abu Dhabi Environmental Database (ADEDB) for several years. The concept of ADEDB has gained widespread support amongst various organisations, which now meet on a regular basis to advance the concept.
Source:
http://www.gulf-news.com/Articles/news.asp?ArticleID=32607
China's Reserve Army Mobilizes, Assembles Via Net
HEFEI, November 15 (Xinhuanet) -- China's reserve army, the youngest force in China, has utilized computer networks to mobilize, assemble and train staff.
A Xinhua reporter recently attended a modern reserve soldier drill taking place in a regiment of an infantry division in east China's Anhui Province. The reporter saw a commander issuing orders by clicking a mouse
in the regiment headquarters. The orders were sent in a few seconds to all battalions and companies via the net.
Two hours later, over 1,300 reserve officers and soldiers scattered over many villages and towns had arrived in the appointed area with their heavy weapons including anti-aircraft guns, anti-aircraft artillery and rocket guns.
Wu Xiaolong, the division commander said that the drill is not only to commemorate the ten year anniversary of Chairman of the Central Military Commission Jiang Zemin's inscription of China's reserve army, but also a good test for the troop's up-to-dateness.
China's reserve army is one of most important forces to deal with unexpected events and emergency situations. It would also be quickly mobilized should war break out. China's reserve army was first founded in 1955. At that time, Chengdu, Wuhan, Kunming and Lanzhou milltary area commands
organized over 100,000 reserve soldiers.
Currently, high-tech training measures are being widely used in China's reserve army and the personnel educational level has been greatly improved.
The division has also produced their own military software including civil air defence forces software and high-speed mobilization software. Nowadays, the division can offer network drills, network
information transmission, network supervision and network commanding.
Read complete article at:
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2001-11/15/content_117145.htm
Trimble has announced that Land Information New Zealand (LINZ) and the Institute of Geological and Nuclear Sciences Limited (GNS) are using the Company's Global Positioning System (GPS) technology to create a national network to monitor land movement. GNS has purchased 20 Trimble 5700 Continuously Operating Reference Station (CORS) GPS receivers for use in the network and for field work. LINZ and GNS are using 12 GPS reference station receivers to form a continuous global positioning system (CGPS) network across the North Island of New Zealand. Along with collecting GPS information to monitor the movements of the earth's crust to millimeter accuracy, the network of reference stations will also provide accurate control points to New Zealand surveyors, who will be able to access surveying data through an online bulletin board service. In addition, eight Trimble receivers are being added to the GNS pool of GPS field systems, which are used for geoscience research and commercial survey work throughout New Zealand.
