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Scientists Find Dead Sea Is Sinking
The Dead Sea, already the lowest point on Earth, is sinking even lower. Areas along the shores of the Dead Sea subsided by as much as 2.5 inches a year between 1992 and 1999, according to a new study. The region on the Israeli-Jordanian border lies about 1,360 feet below sea level. The subsidence followed a drop in the water table around the Dead Sea, allowing the ground to settle and compact, according to scientists who published their findings in the January issue of the Geological Society of America Bulletin. Water that would normally flow into the Dead Sea has steadily been siphoned off for agricultural and other uses in the thirsty region. As a consequence, the level of the body of water, among the world's saltiest, has fallen by about 20 feet over the past decade. The study used seven years' worth of data from a pair of European radar satellites to examine changes in the level of the ground along the southern and western shores of the Dead Sea. By comparing high-resolution radar images of the same area taken at varying intervals, scientists could pinpoint movements of the Earth that otherwise would be nearly imperceptible, unless the area was peppered with expensive global positioning system receivers that can track the minute changes. Other studies have shown similar effects as groundwater is removed and replaced in locations such as Phoenix and Las Vegas. The radar technique used in the studies works best in looking at arid areas free of vegetation that can skew results.
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Top Stories
Seawinds casts a closer eye on Tropical Cyclones
In a new NASA-funded study, researchers have dramatically improved the warning time for tropical cyclone development in the Atlantic and Eastern Pacific hurricane basins. Using satellite data to access a combination of the spin of the atmosphere and wind speed data, researchers were able to detect potential tropical cyclones more than 40 hours earlier than with traditional methods, giving more time for warnings and preparation. Researchers from Florida State University's Center for Ocean-Atmospheric Prediction Studies used data from the Quick Scatterometer, a satellite managed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., and the Seawinds instrument, built by JPL. The researchers detected the formation of systems that might become tropical cyclones prior to their being classified as tropical depressions by the National Hurricane Center. This new method is based on signals from the scatterometer-derived vorticity field, which highlights areas of rotating winds. Tropical cyclones are also known as tropical depressions, tropical storms or hurricanes, depending on their wind speed. The National Hurricane Center uses criteria other than vorticity, such as persistent and organized thunderstorm activity, before it classifies a system as a tropical cyclone. In this study researchers used only the wind field data that is often present prior to the other criteria. Early detection of these systems will help determine those that warrant further examination by more traditional methods, and allow investigators to study the genesis of tropical cyclones by watching the full development of a storm from its very beginning.
Read complete story at: http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/
PlanGraphics implements Turnkey GIS Solution for Lower Merion Township
PlanGraphics, Inc., a provider of professional spatial information technology services, has implemented a turnkey GIS solution for Lower Merion Township, PA, a western suburb of Philadelphia. PlanGraphics conducted a needs assessment, developed a plan, wrote the applications, and is providing continuing program management for a complete GIS system.
PlanGraphics has delivered township-wide digital orthophoto coverage-1" = 100' digital orthophotos produced from precision aerial photography that were captured, scanned, and aerotriangulated by Air Survey Corporation (ASC) of Sterling, Virginia. The completed project will include detailed planimetric/topographic mapping, as well as parcel conversion. Smart Data Strategies (SDS) of Franklin, TN, will complete the parcel conversion. As Program Manager, PlanGraphics is utilizing a unique combination of domestic and overseas resources to deliver high quality data in a cost-effective manner. Both ASC and SDS are subcontractors to PlanGraphics for this project. PlanGraphics will be using its own resources to implement ESRI's ArcIMS technology for the Township. Also, PlanGraphics is providing on-site program support, quality assurance, and advisory services, including the original needs assessment that started the project.
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Indus and Cook-Hurlbert expand successful strategic alliance
Indus International Inc., a supplier of EAM software and services (1), and Cook-Hurlbert, Inc., a full-service engineering firm specializing in projects related to automated mapping/facilities management and geographic information systems (``AM/FM/GIS''), has announced the signing of an alliance agreement between Indus International and Cook-Hurlbert. This alliance makes Cook-Hurlbert the first Indus International partner to utilize IndusConnect(TM) for the GIS/API Design Tool. 1IndusConnect(TM) is the standard set of integration methods and tools that extend the functionality of the Indus Solution Series by providing a library of APIs within a framework which links Indus applications with partner products such as Cook-Hurlbert's advanced AM/FM/GIS products.
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PlanGraphics awarded contract to provide information technology services to Maryland State Government
PlanGraphics, Inc., a provider of professional spatial information technology services, as part of a team, led by Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC), has been awarded an indefinite quantity contract to provide information technology (IT) services to Maryland State government. The contract covers a range of IT functional areas, including-1) Enterprise Service Provider, 2) Electronic Commerce (EC)/Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) Support, 3) Electronic Document Management (EDM), 4) Geographic Information Systems (GIS), and 5) Information System Security Support Services. PlanGraphics' role will be to provide contracted services primarily in the area of geographic information systems (GIS). Any state-level or local government agency in Maryland can access this contract vehicle.
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Asia News
Delhi's digital map to aid emergency response
By the end of this month, Delhi's 1978 vintage map will be replaced by an advanced and accurate digital one. The map will help police and civic agencies to responds faster to the need of Delhiites.
Experts believe the Rs. 10 crore Digital Mapping Project will be valuable aid for Delhi Police, Delhi Fire Service, CATS and all the civic agencies. With the help of the map, they will now be able to pinpoint an affected area required their attention.
Delhi Vidyut Board, Delhi Jal Board, Public Works Department, DDA, NDMC, MCD and MTNL will also be the beneficiaries. Once the base map project is completed these agencies can then customise it according to their needs.
Once the map is in place, the technical officers in various departments will get an opportunity to use the Global Positioning System (GPS) Technology for navigational purposes. "The basic idea of having this kind of map is to have a repository of knowledge, a single register where all the networks would be available," says a National Informatics Centre (NIC) official. For example, if DVB wants to change its lines in a particular area, the officers can avail all the required information about that area merely by pressing a few Keys on their computers.
Other than improving civic amenities the ambitious Digital Mapping Project, and NIC Delhi government joint venture, will help speed up emergency services. Civil agencies will also be able to keep a track of their projects. The digital map, which if printed will run into 25,000 pages, will cover 1,483 sqkm of the city. It has been prepared after detailed aerial photography along the global positioning reference points. The scale of the map is 1:1000.
The photographs have been taken over 27 km baseline of the city and captures any man made structure of the size 30 cm by 30 cm. These picture slides - some 3,000 of them - have been placed on a two dimensional plane, which has a provision for customisation by civic agencies to meet their specific needs.
Unlike the Eicher Road Map, this map will not be made public. The digital map will basically help the government agencies to plan and execute their projects in an organised and speedy manner. The map is not being made public due to security constraints.
The process of digital base mapping started four years ago, when the civic bodies expressed a need for an accurate city map. It was then that all the concerned agencies were asked to delegate their representatives, who would form a 20- member team for the project under the guidance of NIC senior technical director Dr. Mahesh Chandra.
Delhi Jal Board officers have completed data work on seven zones out of the total 12 for using it with the base digital map. MTNL has completed work on one exchange and will soon start work on the remaining exchanges.
Source: Express Newsline, January 15, 2002.
PlanGraphics enters into multi-year project with the World Bank and China to develop Decision Support Systems
PlanGraphics, Inc., a provider of professional spatial information technology services, has entered into a multi-year $1.28 million contract with the Sichuan Urban Environment Project Office (SUEPO) to provide consulting services to undertake the development of an Urban Management Information System-Geographic Information System (UMIS-GIS).
As part of a World Bank-supported project, PlanGraphics will provide consulting services for development of a UMIS-GIS to improve urban infrastructure and environmental information management in western China through development and operation of Urban Management Information Systems for participating agencies. The project will also include, in a subcontractor capacity to PlanGraphics, Jinkecheng Geospatial Information Technologies Company of Chengdu, one of PlanGraphics' Business Partners in China.
The objective of the World Bank funding is the provide a safe environmental setting for the sustainable long-term economic growth of urban areas in the Sichuan Province. The UMIS-GIS entails development and implementation of institutional, administrative, and technical frameworks as the basis for development of a network of shared information systems and data between provincial and local government agencies.
The project has five major systems. PlanGraphics will provide system development and technical training for a Provincial Decision Support System and Office Automation System (OAS) for the Sichuan Provincial Construction Bureau; an Environmental Management Information System and OAS for the Sichuan Environment Protection Bureau; an Urban Decision Support System for the municipalities of Deyang and Luzhou; a Wastewater Infrastructure Operations System (IOS) for the city of Leshan; and a water supply IOS for the city of Luzhou.
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State-of-the-art Marine Positioning System for China
A navigation station using an up-to-date marine positioning system was put into operation recently in Fangcheng City in southwest China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.
The country now has a marine radio navigation system able to cover all China's coastal areas from the estuary of the Yanglujiang River in northeast China to the Xisha Islands in the south, said Geng Wenfu, head of the Guangxi Maritime Safety Administration.
Known as the "Radio Beacon Navigation--Differential Global Positioning System (RBN--DGPS)", this system is said to be equal to the America-made GPS system and can provide highly accurate positioning data to vessels either entering or leaving the country 's major harbors and waterways.
As there are 20 RBN--DGPS stations scattered along China's eastern seaboard, vessels at sea can receive signals 24 hours a day through a GPS receiver. Usually, in the 300-kilometer coverage area, these receivers can obtain accurate positions to within five to 10 meters.
According to Geng, the system can be used for a variety of offshore activities including measuring sea-routes, traffic security management, localization of beacons, exploration of offshore oil, surveying of ocean resources, ocean fishery and at- sea-salvaging.
In addition, the system can also be used on land for urban construction, traffic management and public security in coastal cities. Before the system officially began operating in January 2002, a year-long trial was made in 2001. Its construction took five years and began in 1995.
Source: http://www.china.org.cn/english/25167.htm
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