In+ersec+ion for Spatial People

Here's the recent Google-related geonews.

From official sources:

• Google participated to TIME's new Timelapse Project, providing an interactive time-lapse satellite imagery map for the 29 last years  - this was also discussed over Slashdot
• Google also shares a short entry named Bridging the gaps with Street View
• Here's was to expect later this week from Behind the Map at Google I/O
• A week left now, An update on the JavaScript Maps API v2 deprecation

From other sources:

• The Google Earth Android app got a nice update, including native Street View support
• Slashdot discussed a story named Tesla's Elon Musk Talks With Google About Self-Driving Cars
• Unsurprisingly, there was new imagery to Google Earth

Specifically on Google Glass Project:

• Let's start with a discussion named Google Glass Hands-On: Brimming With Potential, Dangerous While Driving
• APB links to a Google Glass Navigation Review, and it's pretty positive
• Someone had to ask, Is Google Glass Too Nerdy For the Mainstream?
• This will likely improve, but for now Google Glass Is the Future — and the Future Has Awful Battery Life
• And yes, Google Glass will work with iPhones too

VerySpatial informed us of NASA's closer look at LDCM's first scene. LDCM is to be renamed Landsat 8. Slashdot also discusses this story and link to a GizMag article.

From NASA: "Turning on new satellite instruments is like opening new eyes. This week, the Landsat Data Continuity Mission (LDCM) released its first images of Earth, collected at 1:40 p.m. EDT on March 18. [...] LDCM sees eleven bands within the electromagnetic spectrum, the range of wavelengths of light. OLI collects light reflected from Earth's surface in nine of these bands. Wavelengths on the shorter side include the visible blue, green, and red bands. Wavelengths on the longer side include the near infrared and shortwave infrared. LDCM's second instrument, the Thermal Infrared Sensor (TIRS) detects light emitted from the surface in two even longer wavelengths called the thermal infrared. [...] LDCM's normal operations are scheduled to begin in late May when the instruments have been calibrated and the spacecraft has been fully checked out."

It's easy to love MapBox for the way they push geospatial innovation. Last week they introduced MapBox Satellite.

What it is? "We’ve been working hard to bring MapBox users a fast, beautiful satellite and aerial imagery layer that integrates seamlessly with MapBox Streets and custom overlays. We’re happy to announce that it’s available today and included in MapBox Basic plans and above.

We are approaching MapBox Satellite in three main phases. Today marks Phase 1 completion with full world coverage to zoom 12 and full U.S. aerial coverage to zoom 17. Phase 2 will arrive in early 2013 as we deploy full U.S. and Europe coverage to zoom 18, followed by an aggressive Phase 3 rollout schedule for the rest of the world to zoom 17 during the first half of 2013."

Here's a really nice entry named Open Aerial: The Data Behind MapBox Satellite: "MapBox Satellite is powered by raw imagery from multiple sources that is then processed by MapBox using open source tools. All the data you're about to see is free, open, and if you're a U.S. taxpayer, available thanks to you."

DMCii imagery, along with Geodan's Earthwatchers social network have been used by Greenpeace Argentina to halt deforestation in the El Impenetrable forest, Argentina. Earthwatchers gives students an active part in stopping deforestation by giving them access to high frequency satellite imagery (in this case provided by DMCii) of a certain area of forest to monitor for changes. They can raise an alert if change is detected and, if corroborated by other users, ground teams are dispatched to investigate and engage local authorities to stop forest clearance. In this case, Greenpeace Argentina successfully lobbied the local Chaco government to halt deforestation and protect the forest.

To read more, visit DMCii's blog.

It's been a while since we mentioned Geomatica, via AQT, I learned about the launch of Geomatica 2013 from PCI Geomatics. Geomatica is primarily a satellite imagery processing and analysis tool, but can do much more.

Here's how they present the new version: "Geomatica 2013 is loaded with updates and refinements that allow you to complete larger projects in less time with fewer errors. Graphical snapshots clearly illustrate image overlap as well as Tie-point and Groundcontrol point identification. Potential issues with your data are flagged in the updated Project Overview Viewer to assess the quality and coverage of your mosaics before committing valuable person-hours to the job. Live updates now run globally across the software suite allowing you to track changes across multiple projects with a high level of confidence and the ability to achieve accuracy. Our fastest Geomatica yet will improve your workflows and allow you to manage mosaics containing 1,000s of images with ease. You’ll wonder how you ever got along without it."

- Powerful geospatial imaging suite now supports Adobe Photoshop CS6 -

Toronto, ON, June 11, 2012 - Avenza Systems Inc., producers of MAPublisher® cartographic software for Adobe Illustrator® and PDF Maps for Apple iOS, is pleased to announce the release of Geographic Imager version 4.0 for Adobe Photoshop. This release provides long-awaited support for the latest Adobe Photoshop release, CS6, as well as a number of new and exciting product enhancements.

"We are delighted to now support the new Adobe Photoshop CS6 with this Geographic Imager 4.0 release,” said Ted Florence, President of Avenza. “As Adobe Photoshop continues to evolve and increasingly become a viable spatial imaging platform, we have again demonstrated our commitment to providing geospatial functionality to the Photoshop environment. We've also included several new features and enhancements which our users will definitely find very useful,” he added.

Additional Geographic Imager 4.0 features

• Support for Adobe Photoshop CS6
• Enhanced ECW import support
• Automatic checking for maintenance updates and new versions
• Added support for IMG channel names
• Improved main panel with access to Channel Management dialog
• Various bug fixes and user experience enhancements

More about Geographic Imager for Adobe Photoshop

Geographic Imager is powerful software for working with spatial imagery in Adobe Photoshop that leverages the superior image editing capabilities of this raster-based image-editing software and transforms it into a powerful spatial imagery editing tool. Work with satellite imagery, aerial photography, orthophotos, and DEMs in GeoTIFF and other major GIS image formats using Adobe Photoshop features such as transparencies, filters, and image adjustments while maintaining georeferencing and support for hundreds of coordinate systems and projections.

Geographic Imager 4.0 is available immediately free of charge to all Geographic Imager Maintenance Program members and at prices starting at US$319 for non-maintenance members. Academic and volume license pricing are also available. Geographic Imager 4.0 offers geospatial support for Adobe Photoshop versions CS6, CS5.1 and CS5.

More about Avenza Systems Inc.

Avenza Systems Inc. is an award-winning, privately held corporation that provides cartographers and GIS professionals with powerful software tools for making better maps and for working with spatial imagery. In addition to software offerings for Mac, Windows and Apple mobile device users, Avenza offers value-added data sets, product training and consulting services. Visit www.avenza.com for more details.

For further information contact:
Tel: 416-487-5116
Email: [email protected]
Web: www.avenza.com

More than 500 GB (10 thousand scenes) from year 2001 to 2003 are freely distributed on gis-lab.info. Cover areas of Russia and Canada. See:

• The About (in Russian): http://gis-lab.info/projects/aster/about.html
• The download web interface: http://gis-lab.info/projects/aster/index.html

[Editor's note: you might be interested in taking a look at previous ASTER-related stories]

Here's the recent Google-related geonews. I'm pretty certain most of you learned of the major 8.9 magnitude Japan earthquake near Honshu that happened a few hours ago. We'll share news of it when related maps and geospatial news will be available. You're always welcomed to contribute.

From the official sources:

• Google announced new 3D imagery of central London’s buildings and trees in Google Earth
• Japan's Hiroshima Peace Memorial in now available in Street View and the GEB mentions other new Street View imagery in Japan
• Google is encouraging Latitude adoption with check-in offers in Austin, Texas
• Google Maps now allows you to find electric vehicle charging stations
• A few days ago, Google shared post-earthquake images of Christchurch, New Zealand
• The Photos layer from Google Maps is now available to Maps API developers

From other sources:

• The GEB mentions another way to build 3D building models using satellite imagery via a stereographic pair
• The GEB has an entry on using Google Earth to map all facilities in Haiti that need Internet access
• The GEB mentions a detailed Shaker village modeled in Google Earth, head to Wikipedia to learn who Shakers are

Smart Planet reports that:

The [U.S.] National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency is attempting to determine the most “effective and efficient options” to digitize “large volumes of high resolution photographic imagery”

This imagery is satellite based and was captured on film then released to Earth as little care packages.

From the article: "Satellites with earth-facing cameras have been around for many decades, and were orbiting well before digital photography came of age. Before the digital transmission of photos was an option, spy satellites–like the KH-1/2/3/4 “Corona” or KH-6 “Lanyard” satellites–were returning high quality photos to US intelligence services by physically dropping
exposed film back to earth."

Slashdot ran a story named Satellites Spy On Black Friday Shoppers.

Their summary: "Those satellites in space don't just take spy pictures. On this Black Friday 2010, they actually took pictures of you, and your rush to Black Friday shopping deals. The research is being done to see what consumer demand this year means for retail stocks. The trend, so far, has been favorable. The companies involved in this are Remote Sensing Metrics and Digital Globe. Remote Sensing Metrics is a Chicago-based consulting firm that analyzes the satellite imagery. In turn, it purchases those images from Colorado-based company Digital Globe, which operates its own satellites."