The first two ESA Galileo navigation satellites in space can now transmit dummy signals in a modulation scheme designed to allow full interoperability with the US GPS once operational services start.
This is the European version of the Multiplexed Binary Offset Code signal standard which is the agreed upon standard with the United States for the interoperability of Galileo and GPS.
“This is an advanced modulation technique that offers robust protection against signal interference and the misleading signal reflections known as ‘multipath’,” said Marco Falcone, Head of Galileo System Services.
WMO Secretary-General Michel Jarraud announced that metadata from the World Meteorological Organization Information System (WIS) will be made available through the Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS) from 13 July onwards. This means that any data registered in the WIS will be automatically registered and thus accessible in GEOSS. This action responds to the commitment made by the World Meteorological Congress in 2007 “that the WIS, as a system with essential data exchange and data management services, would have to play a core role in the GEOSS as an essential WMO contribution with respect to weather, water and climate data and products.”
This new functionality complements the existing WIS capability for discovering GEOSS data and products via WIS. This capability is available at WMO’s Global Information and System Centres (GISCs – see www.wmo.int/giscs).
The young company Geofeedia offers aggregating capabilities of a new kind – assembling data from various social media sources such as Instagram, Twitter, Picassa and others – representing that data on a nice visual map with pins. Each source has a specific pin so that users can see the source and location of the data.
Geofeedia aggregates data from various social media sources such as Instagram, Twitter, Picassa and others - representing that data on a nice visual map with pins. Each source has a specific pin so that users can see the source and location of the data.
Knowing where a person storm shelter is located is critical to being able to locate victims trapped in them after a tornado like the one that tore through Franklin County, Alabama on April 27th, 2011. A new GIS mapping system will help locate victims trapped in personal storm shelters.
Most of us understand the hydrologic cycle in terms of the visible paths that water can take: rainstorms, rivers, waterfalls, swamps, etc. Hydrology takes a different path through a larger volume of water that flows through the air through evaporation and transpiration. This is very different from hydrology as we think of it traveling through visible paths such as waterfalls, streams, rivers, rainstorms, and swamps,etc. Evaporation and transpiration claim 61% of all terrestrial precipitation, and together are referred to as evapotranpsiration. Esri’s Mapping Center has produced a web map showing the world’s average annual evapotranspiration to understand how this process works.
The Conway, Ark., company Acxiom Corporation that not many have heard of has more than 23,000 computer servers that are collecting, collating and analyzing consumer data.
Acxiom is at the forefront of the multi-billion dollar industry of database marketing. According to the article in The New York Times, its servers process more than 50 trillion data “transactions” a year. Company executives have said its database contains information about 500 million active consumers worldwide, with about 1,500 data points per person. That includes a majority of adults in the United States. Such large-scale data mining and analytics — based on information available in public records, consumer surveys and the like — are perfectly legal.
At Hexagon 2012 held in Las Vegas this past week, the opening of the Hexagon Online Marketplace, Hexagon’s Internet-based store, was announced. To many industry watchers, this is unprecedented. According to the press release, “the Hexagon Online Marketplace signifies the first ever Hexagon-level, direct-to-customer venture, and provides customers with a simplified method of purchasing select Hexagon products and services.” Those of us who have watched Intergraph, recently acquired by Hexagon, for many years, would not have thought this type of direct-to-customer marketing venture possible.
It is a sign of the times, however, where an online store allows customers of various professional backgrounds to explore high end offerings that have traditionally been the province of government and big commercial contracts.
Esri President and CEO Jack Dangermond talked to Computerworld magazine about the importance of mobile and cloud, the role of GIS in organizations, big data and consumer vs. enterprise mapping.
Pre-announcement of new features for Google Maps and Google Earth for mobile platforms was made yesterday at the “New Dimension of Google Maps” event. These features aren’t available to the public yet, but possibly announced as a precursor to the Apple iOS6 event next week. It is expected that Apple will announce that Google Maps will no longer be the default mapping application on iPhones. Since Apple has been acquiring companies and building their own mapping applications, they will be offering new mapping applications that will compete with what is offered on the Android phone. This may benefit users ultimately.
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