METI and NASA Announce Plans for ASTER Global DEM Release

The Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) Global Digital Elevation Model (GDEM) was developed jointly by the Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry (METI) of Japan and the United States National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Initial studies to validate and characterize the ASTER GDEM recently were completed by NASA and METI, in cooperation with the U.S Geological Survey (USGS) and the Earth Remote Sensing Data Analysis Center (ERSDAC) of Japan, as well as with support from the U.S. National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) and numerous other collaborators from around the world.


ASTER Global DEM


Following review of the validation results, METI and NASA have decided to jointly release the ASTER GDEM on June 29, 2009. Previously, METI and NASA announced their intent to contribute the ASTER GDEM to the Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS). Upon release, the ASTER GDEM will be available at no charge to users worldwide via electronic download from ERSDAC and from NASA’s Land Processes Distributed Active Archive Center (LP DAAC) by visiting:

* http://www.gdem.aster.ersdac.or.jp/ and
* https://wist.echo.nasa.gov/~wist/api/imswelcome/, respectively.

The ASTER instrument was built by METI and launched onboard NASA’s Terra spacecraft in December 1999. It has an along-track stereoscopic capability using its near infrared spectral band and its nadir-viewing and backward-viewing telescopes to acquire stereo image data with a base-to-height ratio of 0.6. The spatial resolution is 15 m in the horizontal plane. One nadir-looking ASTER VNIR scene consists of 4,100 samples by 4,200 lines, corresponding to about 60 km-by-60 km ground area.

The methodology used to produce the ASTER GDEM involved automated processing of the entire 1.5-million-scene ASTER archive, including stereo-correlation to produce 1,264,118 individual scene-based ASTER DEMs, cloud masking to remove cloudy pixels, stacking all cloud-screened DEMs, removing residual bad values and outliers, averaging selected data to create final pixel values, and then correcting residual anomalies before partitioning the data into 1°-by-1° tiles. It took approximately one year to complete production of the beta version of the ASTER GDEM using a fully automated approach.

The ASTER GDEM covers land surfaces between 83°N and 83°S and is composed of 22,600 1°-by-1° tiles. Tiles that contain at least 0.01% land area are included. The ASTER GDEM is in GeoTIFF format with geographic lat/long coordinates and a 1 arc-second (30 m) grid of elevation postings. It is referenced to the WGS84/EGM96 geoid. Pre-production estimated accuracies for this global product were 20 meters at 95 % confidence for vertical data and 30 meters at 95 % confidence for horizontal data. Initial validation studies concluded that the ASTER GDEM generally meets the pre-production accuracy predications, but results do vary and include areas where GDEM accuracy does not meet the pre-production estimates.

The topography of the land surface is one of the most fundamental geophysical measurements of the Earth, and it is a dominant controlling factor in virtually all physical processes that occur on the land surface. Topography of the land surface also significantly controls processes within the overlying atmosphere, and it reflects the processes within the underlying lithosphere. Consequently, topographic information is important across the full spectrum of earth sciences, and the availability of an up-to-date, high resolution (1-arc-sec or less) global DEM has been a priority of earth scientists for a long time. The ASTER GDEM, with 30m grid postings and produced from a consistent primary data source, is expected to meet the requirements of many users for global topographic information.

Source: http://earthobservations.org/art_200906_aster.shtml

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Intermap Technologies: Free Educational Webinars

What is a Webinar?
A Webinar is a seminar that is conducted on the World Wide Web (Web + seminar = Webinar) and viewed with a computer that has an Internet connection. Organizations provide Webinars on any topic that would be appropriate for a traditional seminar, and, just as in a traditional seminar, experts on a particular subject present visual and audio information. Most Webinars include a visual presentation as well as an audio broadcast that is accessed either over the computer and/or via a toll-free (no cost to the participant) telephone number.
click here for more on Webinars...

Terrainscapes 2009, Intermap Technologies' series of complimentary Webinars, continues with compelling topics. These 50-minute Webinars focus on how Intermap's high-resolution 3D digital elevation models (DEMs) enable GIS and geospatial solutions across a wide range of industries, including oil and gas, telecom, water and power, engineering, consumer electronics, automotive, flood control, and more. Intermap encourages your interaction in these events - you can discuss the issues with mapping experts, value-added partners, and end users who have successfully used precise Intermap DEMs to develop a host of unique solutions.

Upcoming webinars:

What Is Radar Data?

Radar remote sensing is a technique that has matured substantially over the past two decades. The focus of this Webinar is the processing, interpretation, and application of radar imagery. It will begin with basics and physics of radar remote sensing and continue with current and future prospects, followed by a discussion on applications using radar imagery.

When: Wednesday, June 3, 8:00 a.m. PDT; 9:00 a.m. MDT; 10:00 a.m. CDT; 11:00 a.m. EDT; 16:00 GMT

Introduction to Digital Elevation Models (DEMs)
As the fields of digital mapping and geospatial analysis continue to grow, the use of 3D data is becoming more widespread. One of the most common types of 3D data is a digital elevation model, or DEM. In this Webinar, we'll talk about what DEMs are and how they differ from other types of spatial data. We'll also look at some of the sources of DEM data, their quality, and how they are generated. Lastly, we'll look at examples of how you can use DEMs in sophisticated geospatial analysis to solve real-world problems.

When: Wednesday, June 24, 8:00 a.m. PST; 9:00 a.m. MST; 10:00 a.m. CST; 11:00 a.m. EST; 16:00 GMT

Intermediate Digital Elevation Models (DEMs) - Characteristics and Uses
This Webinar will detail how characteristics of the terrain model are important, what artifacts could cause issues, how the accuracy requirements will impact the product, and more. You will learn how elevation datasets can be used to provide an address-based risk assessment, as well as how the radar image and terrain model can be used to extract 3D road vectors.

When: Wednesday, July 8, 8:00 a.m. PDT; 9:00 a.m. MDT; 10:00 a.m. CDT; 11:00 a.m. EDT; 15:00 GMT


Source: http://www.intermap.com/right.php/pid/6/sid/38

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The releases of QGIS 1.0.2

The Quantum GIS project announce the releases of QGIS
1.0.2 (stable release) and QGIS 1.1.0 'Pan' (unstable release).

The 1.0.x 'stable' release series are part of our effort to provide a
stable, unchanging, long term supported environment. Each minor release
in our stable series contains only bug fixes and no new features. For a
list of bugs that were closed in the 1.0.2 release, please see the 1.0.2
release milestone.

The 'unstable' release series are provided to offer users a chance to
try out new features as they make their way into the code base. We will
not support these releases over a long term and they are aimed more for
those who value new features over stability.

Binary and source code packages are available at
http://www.qgis.org/en/download/binaries.html.

A visual changelog for the release is available here:

http://blog.qgis.org/node/134

Along with the release of QGIS 1.1.0, the QGIS Community Team is also
extremely pleased to announce the immediate availability of the QGIS
Users' Guide version 1.1. The guide can be downloaded from
http://www.qgis.org/en/documentation/manuals.html.

QGIS is a completely volunteer driven project, and is the work of a
dedicated team of developers, documenters and supporters. We extend our
thanks and gratitude for the many, many hours people have contributed
to make this release happen.

If you would like to make a donation or sponsor our project, please
visit http://www.qgis.org/en/sponsorship.html . QGIS is Free software
and you are under no obligation to do so.

Source: QGIS Release Team
http://qgis.org/

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DigitalGlobe Announces Singapore Ground Station as Direct Access Program Partner, Expands Access to World Imagery

Centre for Remote Imaging, Sensing and Processing (CRISP) at the National University of Singapore Receives Direct Access to DigitalGlobe’s Next-Generation Satellite Constellation

Longmont / Boulder, Colo., April 1, 2009 – DigitalGlobe, a leading provider of world imagery solutions, today announced that it has signed a direct access agreement with the National University of Singapore to allow the Centre for Remote Imaging, Sensing and Processing (CRISP) to receive high-resolution imagery from its WorldView-1 satellite and WorldView-2 upon its launch in the third quarter of 2009.

“CRISP has been closely involved in numerous regional environmental disaster monitoring and humanitarian assistance activities, such as the tsunami and earthquake disasters,” said Kwoh Leong Keong, Director of CRISP. “With this agreement, we will have access to DigitalGlobe’s highly accurate earth imagery faster than ever before, and will be better equipped to meet the diverse needs of our users.”

“DigitalGlobe is proud to work with CRISP and provide the Asia Pacific region with rapid access to the world’s most sophisticated constellation of next-generation satellites, which provides the accuracy and vibrancy for commercial, scientific and government applications,” said Jill Smith, DigitalGlobe's chief executive officer and president. “With direct access to DigitalGlobe’s high-resolution earth imagery, CRISP and its customers will develop a deeper understanding and perspective on the world, gaining the ability to more closely monitor its landscape and its changing face from space.”


“This is a fantastic relationship with a world class organization,” said Jeff Kerridge, DigitalGlobe’s senior vice president. “CRISP and DigitalGlobe will benefit greatly from the direct reception of DigitalGlobe’s WorldView constellation. With access to WorldView-2’s industry-first 8-bands of multispectral imagery, CRISP will be able to contribute even more dynamic information to their efforts in a timely manner.”
DigitalGlobe’s constellation of high-resolution satellites conducts a daily collection rate of nearly 1 million square kilometers of new images. When WorldView-2 joins DigitalGlobe’s constellation, the collection rate will jump to 2 million square kilometers per day, which is larger than Indonesia, the world's 16th-largest country in terms of land area.


To learn more about advanced DigitalGlobe’s constellation of next-generation satellites, please visit www.digitalglobe.com.

About DigitalGlobe
Longmont, Colorado-based DigitalGlobe (http://www.digitalglobe.com) is a leading global content provider of high-resolution world imagery solutions. Sourced from our own advanced satellite constellation and aerial network, our imagery solutions deliver a real world perspective to governments, businesses, technology developers and humanitarian associations worldwide. The company’s imagery solutions consist of one of the world’s largest image libraries, growing at a rate of up to 1 million square kilometers per day and distributed and accessed through online search and retrieval, production ready image layers, development tool-kits for internet enabled applications and devices, and software solutions for integration with GIS products and services. DigitalGlobe currently operates the largest high-resolution commercial satellite constellation with QuickBird and the first of two next-generation satellites, WorldView-1. The company plans to launch its second next-generation satellite, WorldView-2, in the third quarter of 2009.

DigitalGlobe is a registered trademark of DigitalGlobe.

About CRISP (Centre for Remote Imaging, Sensing and Processing)
CRISP was established in 1992 as a Research Centre located at the National University of Singapore with funding from the Agency for Science Technology and Research (A*STAR). The Centre has focused on scientific research in the basic principles and applications of remote sensing technology. CRISP has been receiving, processing and archiving imagery from various commercial remote-sensing satellites since 1995. The Centre is a major international satellite ground station and research facility with a reputation for quality scientific research, technical competence and superior products and consultancy services. CRISP has achieved international recognition for its research on natural disaster monitoring such as forest fires, earthquakes and the Indian Ocean Tsunami. For more information about CRISP, visit its web site at http://crisp.nus.edu.sg.

Source: http://media.digitalglobe.com/index.php?s=43&item=161

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GeoEye Delivers GeoEye-1 Satellite Imagery Products to Google

World's Highest-Resolution, Color Satellite Imagery Can be Previewed on Google Earth

DULLES, Va., March 19 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- GeoEye, Inc. , a premier provider of satellite and aerial-based geospatial information, announced today it has started delivering high-resolution, color satellite imagery from its newest satellite to Google. The GeoEye-1 satellite images that are being highlighted by Google were all taken within the last 60 days and include images of the Pyramids of Giza, Mount Fuji, Sydney Australia, and many other recognizable locations. Examples of imagery can be seen at http://earth.google.com/geoeye/.

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20080625/LAW528LOGO)

Bill Wilt, GeoEye's vice president of North American sales, said, "Google is a very important customer with a huge appetite for map-accurate satellite imagery. We will work hard to ensure we meet all of their expectations and provide them a continuous stream of the world's highest resolution color satellite imagery."

The images were all taken from 423 miles in space as GeoEye-1 moved around the Earth at 17,000 miles per hour. The 4,300-pound GeoEye-1 satellite was launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif. on Sept. 6, 2008.

About GeoEye

GeoEye's products and services enable timely, accurate, and accessible location intelligence. The company is recognized as one of the geospatial industry's most trusted imagery experts, delivering reliable service and exceptional quality imagery products and solutions to customers around the world. GeoEye has developed an advanced information technology infrastructure for collecting, receiving, processing and distributing imagery information products and processing services to the U.S. Government including the national security community as well as international governments and commercial customers. These products serve applications including defense and intelligence, precision mapping, on-line mapping, infrastructure development, planning and monitoring, and environmental assessment. The company collects tens of millions of square kilometers of imagery per year with its existing satellites and aerial assets, which includes GeoEye-1, the world's highest resolution commercial imaging satellite. The company also provides support to academic institutions and non-governmental organizations through the GeoEye Foundation (http://www.geoeyefoundation.org). Headquartered in Dulles, Virginia, GeoEye is a public company listed on the NASDAQ stock exchange under the symbol GEOY. It maintains a comprehensive Quality Management System (QMS) and has achieved company-wide ISO accreditation. For more information, visit http://www.geoeye.com/.

Safe Harbor Statement Under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995

This release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act and Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Statements including words such as "anticipate", "believe", or "expect" and statements in the future tense are forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties. GeoEye's actual financial and operational results could differ materially from those anticipated. Additional information regarding these risk factors and uncertainties is described more fully in the Company's SEC filings. A copy of all SEC filings may be obtained from the SEC's EDGAR web site, http://www.sec.gov/, or by contacting: William L. Warren, Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary, at 703-480-5672.
Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20080625/LAW528LOGO
http://photoarchive.ap.org
PRN Photo Desk, photodesk@prnewswire.com

SOURCE: GeoEye, Inc.

Web site: http://www.geoeye.com/
Source: http://geoeye.mediaroom.com/index.php?s=43&item=319

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The 10th SEASC 2009 in Bali, 4-7 August 2009

The 10th SOUTH EAST ASIAN SURVEY CONGRESS 2009 (SEASC 2009) is coming. As you may aware, this event will be held in Bali – “the Ultimate Island” – Indonesia, from 4 to 7 of August 2009.

There will be hundreds of delegates from various countries expected to attend and participate the congress, technical session, business forum, and trade exhibition including poster sessions; and they will be your directive target audience. Delegates will include professional institutions and academicians, or even individuals who have special interest in surveying and mapping, geospatial, geo-information and any relevant aspect to geo-information technology and its management in facilitating planning for sustainable development.


The benefit in attending SEASC 2009 is to synchronize regional and international activities and experience with the developments of the subject. It is also to promote and advance the science, practice and application of land surveying and geomatics for the advancement of mankind and community and to foster regional cooperation and transfer of technology

There will be 3 Plenary Sessions, more than 90 Technical Sessions, more than 15 Business Forum, and exhibitors who show their products and services in the 1,300 sqm hall, including more than 50 topics are ready to offer in the Poster Session activity.

One of the SEASC’s goals is to foster the development of various affinity societies. These are social networks that are used during the year between participants to share knowledge and understanding, including awareness and togetherness. As such, SEASC social activities play an important role in cementing these affinity societies

Do not hesitate to contact the SEASC 2009 Organizer for further information on the above mentioned event. Please send your request or any question to info@seasc2009.org, or visit our http://www.seasc2009.org for further information.

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