In+ersec+ion for Spatial People

I'm currently abroad but wanted to share the good news that Landsat 8 Satellite Successfully Launches Into Orbit.

The Slashdot summary: ""The Landsat Data Continuity Mission is now in orbit, after launching Monday from Vandenberg Air Force Base in Calif. After about three months of testing, the U.S. Geological Survey will take control and the mission, renamed Landsat 8, will extend more than 40 years of global land observations critical to energy and water management, forest monitoring, human and environmental health, urban planning, disaster recovery, and agriculture." We still need more new observation satellites to avoid losing Earth observing capabilities as the work horses of the NASA/USGS fleet die of old age."

     There has been recent findings to suggest that a meteor from a serial impact off the dust tail of Comet C/1811 f1 [The great Comet of 1811] was the initial mechanism to cause The New Madrid Earthquakes of 1811-1812. Satellite views show a central semi-circular depression in Northeastern Marshall County, Mississippi which every hill in the valley reverberates out from in an obvious shockwave pattern.

     Don't just take a look, study all the evidence that you may find on these events. You will find this site to be a good start: http://koolkreations.wix.com/kalopins-legacy ,or search- "Kalopins Legacy", go to the "wix" site "documents and links", A Few Comments on 1811". Here "A Theory of Cometary Associations with Earthquakes" is where you will find the truths behind the myths...

A lot of interesting geonews in this 'batch mode' edition.

On the Google front:

• Unsurprisingly, you can track Santa Claus again this year in Google Earth, thanks to NORAD
• As SA points out, Garmin went back to Google Maps in addition to Bing, due to popular demand 
• Google Maps improved its handling of the display of multiple stores in a shopping mall or doctors in hospital  
• Here's the official entry on last week's imagery update

On the Esri front:

• Esri is phasing out their Certified Trainer Program

In the miscellaneous category:

• In this press release, it was the first time I heard about MapInfo Stratus, a web based mapping application, related, PBBI also recently launched Geosk, their data as a service platform
• The GEB mentions access to seamless topographic USGS maps
• This O'Reilly entry details the GreenGoose stickers that are used as sensors
• LAS, the Lidar exchange format, has been updated to version 1.4
• Via O'Reilly, here's a new data structure for spatial search, named VP Tree, "Vantage Point Trees"
• Mapperz mentions qrd.by, a Geottager for QR Codes
• APB mentions the size of the Chinese GIS market
• Slashdot is discussing a 3D display we can touch, using cold fog and lasers
• DM shares an article named What are the Latest Developments in the Mobile LBS Market in Europe?
• James Fee reviews the Wacom Inkling digitizer for GIS work
• These five disruptions from Autodesk's CTO are interesting
• Here's a perspective from SS named Is it inevitable for BIM and GIS to force different pathways?

In the maps category:

• APB links to the new Wikileaks Spyfiles interactive map
• SS shares an entry named Himalayan Glacier Reductions Mapped
• Here's every death on every road in Great Britain 1999-2010 mapped

And as a bonus for reading this, see this wonderful time-lapse movie from the International Space Station around the world in 90 minutes

SS informed us that the USGS reported that the Landsat 5 mission is in jeopardy.

From the USGS: "The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has stopped acquiring images from the 27-year-old Landsat 5 Earth observation satellite due to a rapidly degrading electronic component. Landsat 5 was launched in 1984 and designed to last 3 years. The USGS assumed operation of Landsat 5 in 2001 and managed to bring the aging satellite back from the brink of total failure on several occasions following the malfunction of key subsystems. There is now an increasing likelihood that the Landsat 5 mission is nearing its end. [...] For several months, the Landsat flight operations team has been closely tracking the fluctuating performance of an amplifier essential for transmitting land-surface images from the Landsat 5 satellite to ground receiving stations in the U.S. and around the world.  Over the past 10 days, problems with the amplifier have led to drastically reduced image download capabilities, a sign of impending failure. [...] Landsat 8, currently called the Landsat Data Continuity Mission, is now scheduled to be launched in January 2013."

We obviously mentioned Landsat 5 often in the past, including in 2005, 2007 and 2009 when it suffered technical problems, but each time, was able to resume satellite imagery acquisition. This time, it's probable it's really the end of Landsat 5. Here's the Landsat 5 Wikipedia article.

Guns & Roses, or: 3D GIS anyone? behind the colorful history of Teapot Dome in Wyoming, US and its current incarnation that released a comprehensive 3D petroleum dataset, lies this challenge: how is GIS approaching comprehensive 3D treatment (truly with overhangs and multi-Z's per XY, not 2.5D extrusion however useful that may be), with the increasing availability of robust 3D tools some for free (recent slashgeo post). To help with that I posted said dataset on arcgis.com and started revamping my geoscience classes also coming soon to a screen near you.

Here's the recent geonews in batch mode. Yes, on a Saturday! I'll be away for the next three weeks and dare delay my family's departure to feed you with these.

From the open source front:

• Mentioned before, the open source map design tool TileMill reached version 0.4.1   
• Some recent improvements of QGIS: an extraction projection tool for QGIS, a new MapInfo to QGIS style converter and Shield Labels for QGIS
• Not the first time it happened, a briton got arrested during his OpenStreetMap mapping activities, yes, that was before the recent London riots
• O'Reilly offers an entry named Open source maps tell data journalism stories in Afghanistan
• Paul Ramsey of the PostGIS fame shares interesting arguments on the open source vs proprietary debacle
• Here's an entry on generating elevation maps from along-track stereo pairs using the open source Orfeo ToolBox
• We told you ourselves a few times, but here's how James Fee telling us Why You Can’t Afford to Miss FOSS4G 2011

From the Esri front:

• The File GeoDatabase API version 1.1 has been released, in includes a .NET wrapper and bug fixes
• James Fee mentions PgMap and QMap to connect to spatial databases with ArcGIS 10.1 without SDE

From the Google front:

• In their learning series, here's an entry on GIS with Google Earth and Google Maps
• Google shares an entry on famine crisis relief in the Horn of Africa
• Here's the 50th anniversary of the building of the Berlin Wall in Google Earth
• Google invites us to visit the Hiroshima Peace Memorial with Google Maps

On the Microsoft front:

• Microsoft updated their Bing Maps Account Center with three main improvements: Direct Publishing of Data Sources, Map Navigation for Data Editing, and Enhanced POI Data Search
• Here's an entry named KinectFusion Provides Low-Cost and Accessible 3D Interior Mapping

In the miscellaneous category:

• The Spatial Law blog shares a long entry named Geolocation and Privacy: Are We Going the Right Way?: "However, many of bills are so broadly written that if they were to become law they could apply to a broad range of geospatial products and services, including satellite and aerial imagery, GIS and GPS."
• VerySpatial mentions the launch of the augmented reality Layar Vision app to "recognize real-world objects and then trigger digital content based on that object"
• The GEB shares satellite imagery on the Japanese Tsunami that created some massive icebergs
• MacRumors details an Apple patent on schematic maps: "[...] a new maps application that could display a simplified subset of information most relevant to a user seeking specific information or routing."
• In special remote sensing news, Slashdot mentions a camera reaching its target by being thrown by a grenade launcher
• MapQuest tells us how free listing works on their MapQuest Local Business Center

In the maps category:

• O'Reilly discuss maps of the recent London riots
• Mapperz mentions the release of USGS historical maps

It's Friday! Here's the geonews that haven't made it into an individual story, in batch mode.

In the open source/open data front:

• The OpenGeo Suite Enterprise Edition version 2.2. was released
• Automated ground control points (GCP) collection is coming to QGIS. There's also an offline editing plugin coming for QGIS. And another welcomed improvement, new class breaks for graduated symbols in QGIS
• Here's tips on upgrading / backuping PostGIS databases
• The UK Ordnance Survey clarified what you can do with their open data.
• Slashdot discussed a story about CycleStreets.net for the U.K., hopefully someone was quick enough to mention OpenCycleMap.org that we mentioned in the past.

In the miscellanous category:

• Remember we when mentioned Autodesk's Project Butterfly? It's now announced as and renamed to AutoCAD WS: a web application that allows you to view, edit, and share drawings (.dwg) through a web browser or a mobile device.
• GeoCommons got overhauled. Finder! and Maker! disapeered for the sake of a new interface. It also now supports the time dimension visualizations.
• Microsoft mentioned the TweetHeat Map App: "helping users visualize the [Twitter] public response/feeling towards a product, event or really any topic."
• Google has an entry on Liquid Galaxy, eight 55-inches LCD screens showing Google Earth
• TMR links to an article on GPS reception myths and misconceptions
• Mapperz discusses TripGeo, offering directions with video StreetView
• The GeoNames Ontology version 2.2 has been released
• India's Bhuvan, their virtual globe, has been recently improved
• There will be 3 new UK commercial EO satellites planned for 2013, along with a new commercial earth observation company

In the maps category:

• TMR offers an entry named Google Maps Errors and Disappearing Cities
  
• TMR also offers a Roundup of iPhone and iPad Map Apps
• Ogle Earth warns us, the newly available Chinese iPhone 4 comes with a crippled Maps app, there's also a second entry on the same topic
• Kurt details his difficulties encountered to access USGS Topo Maps
• En entry on a New Map Offering a Global View of Health-Sapping Air Pollution
• The FGT blog has an entry on BBC's Dimensions website, showing how big things are relative to one another
• FTG also tells us how to embed a QR Position Code Losslessly Into A Geotagged Picture With QRStamper