Satyaprakash Saurabh Mishra Abdul Rashid Bin, Mohamed Sharif Ananya Ghosh www ...

39 Pages·2007·5.23 MB·English

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MARCH 2007 VOL 11 ISSUE 3
20
GIS EDUCATION: TRAINING,
PLACEMENT AND PROSPECT
Satyaprakash
32
STATUS OF SURVEYING AND
MAPPING IN LAOS, PHILIPPINES:
GATHERING MOMENTUM
Saurabh Mishra
34
TRENDS IN GEOSPATIAL
EDUCATION FOR WORKING
PROFESSIONALS
Abdul Rashid Bin,
Mohamed Sharif
36
ONLINE STUDY RESOURCES:
REMOTE SENSING AND GIS
Ananya Ghosh
38
PICTURE THIS...
42
TECH WATCH
44
BLOGBUSTER
48
PUBLICATIONS
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President
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Editor in Chief
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Dr. Satyaprakash
NNoorrtthh AAmmeerriiccaa
Regional Manager
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South Asia
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SAunba nEydait oGrhosh GIS Education: Training, Placement and Prospect - Satyaprakash
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Regional Manager
Swati Grover
Regional Sales Manager CCOONNTTEENNTTSS Abdul Rashid Bin,
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Manager Sales
Sharmishtha Seth EDITORIAL 05 LETTERS 07 The article outlines the structure
Sub Editor NEWS 08 EVENTS 50 of the geospatial courses offered
Neha Arora
in Malaysia...
LLooccaattiioonn 28PERSPECTIVES
Product Manager
Niraj
Sr. Asst. Editor This is an attempt to present the 36 ONLINE STUDY RESOURCES:
Anamika Das views of eminent academicians REMOTE SENSING AND GIS
Sub Editor representing different regions of
Harpreet Rooprai Ananya Ghosh
Asia, namely, the Middle East,
PPoorrttaall
Manager South Asia and South East Asia, Compilation of websites that
Karunesh Kumar Maurya on the status of GIS education in offer online tutorials on Remote
Dy. Manager their respective countries. Sensing and GIS. GISDEVELOPMENTWEEKLY
Anshu Garg
Sr. Sub Editor
Harsha Vardhan 32STATUS OF SURVEYING
Sub Editor Log on to
Deepak KB AND MAPPING IN LAOS,
SSooffttwwaarree DDeevveellooppmmeenntt GGrroouupp PHILIPPINES: GATHERING www.gisdevelopment.net
Team Leader MOMENTUM to subscribe to weekly ezines
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Team Member Saurabh Mishra
Viral Pandey
The article gives a glimpse of
SDDree. ssCiiggrennative Designer geospatial scenario of the two GIS Development Asia Pacific is intended
for those interested and involved in GIS
Prashanto Sarkar ASEAN nations...
Deepak Kumar related activities. It is hoped that it will
Assistant Graphic Designer 40 LEARNING THROUGH serve to foster a growing network by
Manoj Kumar Singh Bb@GIS INSTITUTE keeping the community up to date on
TTrraaiinniinngg aanndd RReesseeaarrcchh TTeeaamm many activities in this wide and varied
Course Co-ordinator Satyaprakash field. Your involvement in providing
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GIS DEVELOPMENT: ASIA PACIFIC | MARCH 2007 Vol. 11 Issue 3
7.qxp 3/23/2007 3:00 PM Page 7
Feedback
Reader’s Column
Google Earth
line where most of our large towns and cities are located.
Its really shocking to see the Google view of strategic Indian Manu Parulekar, Mumbai, India
places. We saw detailed views of the Sardar Patel National Police
Academy, during our LBSNAA academy tenure. This is very risky
for the country's security. There should be strict action against This is the best effort the country has made. This information
such acts and prior permission should be made mandatory will be very helpful to town planners, NGO's, disaster
before putting any such view online by any of the search management groups & hordes of others.
engines. Is there no international norm guarding such acts? Sutanu K. Ghose, India
Smita Pandey, IAS(P), West Bengal, India
India to build comprehensive
The news about 'Google Earth to blur key Indian sites...' is most
SDI for Delhi
probably the result of arm twisting done by the Indian govern-
ment. All those concerned about high resolution data, please do It is a good start for India but other countries of Asia should also
care to have a look at the recently published book on Indian Aer- invest in promotion of GIS to be able to manage crisis. India can
ial Photographs by Kunal Verma - 'Ocean To Sky'. I sincerely take a lead as I had emphasised to Indian delegates in Colombo
hope this comment does not result in an 'Official' ban on this during the Water Conference. I still doubt if my point of view
very nice piece of work. I thank GIS Development in keeping the was really understood. Let USA, Europe and Russia come
crusade against map censorship active. forward to face the global challenges like tsunamis and
Navjot Kalra, New Delhi, India earthquakes.
M. Shahjahan Bhatti, Pakistan
Way cleared for faster
implementation of India's NSDI; NATMO to launch Golden Map Service
4,800 Survey of India maps to be
Really good news for the future.
released into public domain
Surendra Pal Singh, India
This is what I have been waiting to hear all my life. This is excel-
lent for my motherland.
Satellite killing test by China against
Sanjib K. Ghosh, Professor Emeritus, USA
international convention: ISRO chief
The euphoria over the announcement by the Head, NSDI, that From what I see, China has to go the other way around to
fourty eight hundred topographical maps will be available in succeed in outer space but not through satellite killing tests!
the open domain, is to say the least very heartening. All that I Ngereja. M. Mgejwa, Tanzania
am surprised about is that how come none have asked about
the total maps which cover the country? To shed some light on
the facts well hidden - India is covered by approximately 5100
topographical maps at a scale of 1: 50,000. Out of these 4800 ffeeeeddbbaacckk
Send in your to
were anyway, always available across the counter from Survey
of India offices. Why isn't anyone from our geospatial commu-
[email protected]
nity hollering for the release of the so called 'restricted' maps
which by the way are the 300 odd sheets that cover the coast-
MARCH 2007 GIS DEVELOPMENT : ASIA PACIFIC 7
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News
industrial policies and ille- To begin with, the entire such as change detection in
gally expropriating farmland map of Kolkata will now be buildings and areas, recast-
for construction, according to available at the click of a ing past events, crowd moni-
the official. The Chinese gov- mouse. toring. It will also help in
ernment has seen checking www.hindu.com planning and organizing
excessive growth of land events such as Common-
3D mapping of
supply as an effective way of wealth Games. This database
Delhi proposed
curbing runaway fixed-asset will be a major resource in
investment and cooling the The Department of Science & disaster management, utili-
CHINA economy. Some of the other Technology, Survey of India ties management and even
measures taken to tighten (SOI) and the Ministry of enhanced property tax col-
China using remote
land supply last year include Urban Development lection besides security man-
sensing to check illegal
higher taxes on urban land (MOUD), have come together agement.
land use
use and stripping local gov- to make the data based on 3D www.pib.nic.in
China is using satellite ernments of their authority city model available for the
ISRO to launch
remote sensing techniques to spend the money from capital city of Delhi. The 3D
OCEANSAT-2 in
to check illegal land use in land sales. mapping of National Capital
2008
90 cities, said an official with www.english.people.com.cn Territory of Delhi is sched-
the Ministry of Land and uled to be completed within Ahmedabad, India, 14 Febru-
Resources on February 27. three years. The project is ary 2007 - India will get
According to officials in the INDIA estimated to cost over Rs. 100 sharper eyes to track rav-
ministry's Bureau of Law crores (US$ 2 million), which aging cyclones and forecast
NATMO to launch
would soon be recovered by monsoon when the Indian
Golden Map
way of enhanced revenue Space Reserach Organisation
Service
collection. This was (ISRO) launches the indige-
Kolkata, India, 15 February announced at a Press Confer- nously-built INSAT-3D and
2007 - Using the latest devel- ence jointly addressed by OCEANSAT-2 satellites next
opments in IT, the National Urban Development Minis- year. The OCEANSAT-1,
Atlas and Thematic Mapping ter, S. Jaipal Reddy and Kapil launched in May, 1999, has
Organisation (NATMO), Sibal, Minister for Science & payloads specifically tailored
India, would map the entire Technology and Earth Sci- for the measurement of
Enforcement and Supervi- country down to the village ences. physical and biological
sion, the techniques will help level using spatial technolo- Survey of India (SoI) would oceanography parameters.
find out and check illegal gy through its Golden Map prepare 3D maps for 400 OCEANSAT-2 will play an
land use in time and give full Service. The programme was cities in five years. The data important role in forecasting
play to the role of govern- launched at the concluding generated by the maps the onset of monsoon and its
ment macro-control in land ceremony of NATMO's gold- would be shared with all the subsequent advancement
supply. Satellite pictures en jubilee on February 16. planning agencies and even over the Indian peninsula.
using remote sensing tech- According to Prithvish Nag, the emergency and security The mission will involve a
niques can show the chang- Director, NATMO, this is the services in future. In Delhi, total estimated cost of Rs
ing of a city's newly used era of Web cartography in the SoI would also embark 129.15 crore (about $32 mil-
land for construction in a mobile communication. on a project in which the lion) with a foreign
period, thereby find out NATMO seeks to take a lead- underground utilities would exchange component of Rs
whether the involved land ing role in this field through be mapped and used in real 86 crore (about $21 million).
use breaks laws. its Golden Map Service proj- time to monitor problems With the realisation of the
The government check will ect. Under this project, the and also plan for the future. OCEANSAT-2 mission, India
focus on activities like entire country will be The temporal data generat- will have the capacity to
approving lands in contrary mapped on large-scale maps ed will be of great signifi- cover many applications per-
to government plans and right upto the village level. cance for many applications taining to ocean and meteor-
8 GIS DEVELOPMENT : ASIA PACIFIC MARCH 2007
8-18.qxp 3/23/2007 3:23 PM Page 9
ology. OCEANSAT-2 satellite will be just a few restrictions National Spatial Database:
will have a Ocean Colour on the use of data. "This (the
Monitor which will help project) will be rolled out GIS Based Web Services
identify potential areas for through public-private part-
fishery. It will also carry nerships (PPPs). Anyone,
radar scatterometer which including academics, can use
will measure the sea surface the data. There will be a fee
level winds. to be paid." said Mr. Sibal.
www.hindu.com www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com
4,800 maps to be GPS, remote sensors to
released under check infiltration
India's NSDI
Border Security Force of India
India's National Spatial Data will soon be banking
Infrastructure (NSDI) mis- upon sensors and Global
sion that languished for Positioning System along the
more than two years with borders with Pakistan and
various departments, is Bangladesh as part of efforts NSDI for India is an initiative undertaken jointly by
finally ready for take-off. By to check infiltration.The Department of Science and Technology and Department
March-end, all 4,800 SoI technology will help the bor- of Space, Government of India. It is aimed at encouraging
maps would be available in der force boost its intelli- collection, aggregation and distribution of spatial data
the public domain, many of gence gathering, counter-ter- on different themes on a common defined set of stan-
them for the first time. All rorist activities and check dards and formats by different mapping agencies in
the 4800 maps are part of infiltration, a concern both at India. This infrastructure of data will provide metadata
the 1:50,000 scale series. the Indo-Pak and Indo- of all the data available with participating agencies and
Work will also begin on the Bangla borders. facilitate users to obtain data as per requirements with a
40 cities project (1:10,000 As part of the efforts, about simple and smooth procedure from a common platform.
scale). 20 BSF officers were given OObbjjeeccttiivvee:: To create/integrate, maintain, disseminate
The NSDI promises to training in remote sensing digital spatial database at All India Level over GIS at
change the way citizens look and geographic information National Informatics Centre (NIC) Headquarter.
at their world. The scheme system technology at the SSaalliieenntt FFeeaattuurreess::
aims to use GIS to meld satel- Centre for Disaster Manage- • Bringing together many Geospatial data sources and dis-
semination through a web-based approach.
lite imagery and good old ment Studies under the aegis
(cid:127) National Geospatial Framework consisting of the referenc-
toposheets with data on of Guru Gobind Singh
ing system built around standard datasets with an appropri-
water resources, flooding, Indraprastha University.
ate institutional arrangement.
rainfall, crop patterns, civic The BSF Director General
(cid:127) Created and maintained to certain defined common stan-
layouts to produce 3-D digi- A.K. Mitra said the objective dards; Information upto Village level, the smallest unit of
tal maps. In other words, the behind use of satellite imag- administration.
NSDI network aims to super- ing and digital data was to RRiicchh SSppaattiiaall DDaattaa CCoonntteenntt ccoommpprriissiinngg::
impose all the spatial data improve border manage- (cid:127) Administrative Boundaries-State, District, taluk, Block and
village locations for the entire country.
onto a digital map. Once ment to the maximum possi-
(cid:127) Village Boundary Database for six states and shall further
ready , the NSDI will act as ble extent. India shares more
extend to four other States; Major Town Locations
an online database to main- than 14,000 km of border
(cid:127) Communication Layers like Road (national highways, state
tain such data layers and with six countries. He also
highways etc) and Railway Network.
base maps in an easily added that “for border sur-
(cid:127) Natural Resource layers like Major Rivers, Green Areas,
retrievable form. veillance, India needs per- Sanctuaries etc.
India's Union Minister for sistent coverage over previ-
(cid:127) Supplemented with Satellite Imagery, Toposheets and other
Science and Technology, ously exposed areas. The Raster Datasets.
Kapil Sibal, said that there large amount of data gener- www.gis.nic.in
MARCH 2007 GIS DEVELOPMENT : ASIA PACIFIC 9
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News
ated can make sense only if the private agency will pho- tion Communication Tech- mation system (GIS) technol-
automation is achieved to a tograph the hoardings and nology (ICT), such as the E- ogy and other information
certain level in processing send the image using the Tanah project which com- such as the extent of the
and identification of possible Global Positing System back prises areas in land adminis- flood, the number of people
areas of intrusion. Hence, to the computers at the tration like disposal, registra- involved could help to estab-
BSF needs to be equipped Municipal Corporation of tion of titles, transfer lish flood relief operations
with positioning systems Delhi (MCD) office. approvals and many others," for the particular river basin.
like GPS and feed the data This will allow anyone to he said. He was speaking to In addition, the flood hazard
real time into GIS". log in and check the status of reporters after delivering his maps could include probabil-
www.saharasamay.com illegal hoardings in the city. keynote address at a confer- ities of depths of flood inun-
www.hindu.com ence entitled `Industry Meet' dation for risk assessment in
GPS to be used
jointly organised by the min- a flood plain.This would help
for identifying
istry and GIS Development in determining the flood
unauthorised
MALAYSIA Sdn Bhd. insurance premiums more
hoardings
www.bernama.com.my reasonably based on the
Ministry integrat-
Global Positioning System is degree of flood vulnerability.
ing database of Japanese experts to
proposed to reduce visual In some developed coun-
land records assist development of
pollution caused by illegal tries, flood hazard maps are
flood hazard maps
hoardings across New Delhi. The Natural Resources and easily accessible to the public
The first city in the country Environment Ministry is in Malaysia will seek help from for public awareness and
the midst of integrating the Japanese experts to develop education.
country's database of land a flood hazard mapping sys- www.bernama.com.my
records into one system to tem which will enable the
ensure the effectiveness on country to forecast the
the implementation of its effects of global warming. JAPAN
projects under the Ninth Natural Resource and Envi-
Japan launches
Malaysia Plan (9MP). Accord- ronment Deputy Minister
4th spy satellite
ing to the Ministry officials, Datuk S. Sothinathan said
the application of GeoInfor- the system will enable the Japan launched its fourth
to use this system, it will also mation Technlogy (GIS) will government to predict the spy satellite on February 24,
assist the handful of munici- help in the integration of worst case scenario of flood improving its ability to mon-
pal inspectors in keeping ille- this database system as well disasters in 50 to 100 years itor potential threats includ-
gal hoarding at bay. as applying animation due to climate change that ing North Korea, whose mis-
The new project envisages effects such as video and had already taken its toll sile and nuclear tests have
engaging a private agency to sound. globally. spooked the region. An H-2A
identify unauthorised hoard- Deputy Secretary-General II "This will be a guide for rocket, delayed three times
ings, prepare an exhaustive of the ministry, Mohd future action on how to by bad weather, finally lifted
data about them and con- Ibrahim Abu Bakar said since organise action during flood, off from the southern island
stantly update officials on land matters were under the the location of the relief cen- of Tanegashima, carrying a
their status. purview of the respective tres and the best route to radar satellite that joined
As part of this project, all states, an integrated data- reach the disaster area" since two optical satellites and
authorised hoarding will base of land records will be floods have been one of the another radar satellite
now have a computer chip developed soon for every most devastating natural
that will carry its unique state in Malaysia. disasters in East and South-
identification number that "We want to achieve an east Asia.
can be traced. The new sys- updated, effective, efficient Sothinathan also elaborat-
tem is scheduled to become and accurate National Land ed upon the fact that the
operational in next two Administration System via flood hazard maps coupled
months. The inspectors from the utilisation of Informa- with the geographic infor-
10 GIS DEVELOPMENT : ASIA PACIFIC MARCH 2007
8-18.qxp 3/23/2007 3:23 PM Page 11
already in operation. With used to build Konus space-
Asia's pollution brews
the full complement of four craft (for the research of
satellites, Japan will be able gamma-ray bursts and solar
storms over Pacific
to monitor any point on flares), Micro Mars spacecraft
Earth once a day, govern- (for Mars research and
ment officials have said. The surrounding space) and
rocket also carried an experi- the placement of various
mental optical satellite, devices in the interests of the
aimed at improving the level Russian Academy of Sci-
of detail obtained from the ences. The first launch is
next generation of satellites. scheduled for 2008”. Micro-
Japan's spy satellite pro- satellites will be launched as
gramme was initiated after additional payload to heavy
North Korea launched a bal- spacecraft.
listic missile in 1998 that www.inform.kz
flew over Japan.
www.cnn.com
VIETNAM
Vietnam to launch its
RUSSIA
own remote sensing
Pollution from Asia is helping generate stronger storms
Russia to launch satellite by 2010
over the North Pacific, according to new research.
first micro-satel-
Vietnam plans to harness Changes in the North Pacific storm track could have an
lites in 2008
space technology by building effect on weather across the Northern Hemisphere.
Russia intends to launch its its own remote sensing satel- Satellite measurements have shown an increase in
first research micro-satellites lites in the next decade, a top tiny particles generated from coal burning in China and
in 2008, the Federal Space space official has said. Prime India in recent decades, researchers report in the latest
Agency said on Monday, Minister Nguyen Tan Dung issue of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sci-
March 5, 2007. has recently approved a pro- ences. The team, led by Renyi Zhang of Texas A&M Uni-
gramme for space technolo- versity, studied pollution and clouds between 1984 and
gy research and applications 2005, concluding that increasing particles enhanced the
that will last until 2020. The cloud updraft to generate more intense thunderstorms
Space Technology Institute than previously. Comparing 1984-94 with 1994-2005
(STI) will be responsible for they found an increase of 20 percent to 50 percent in
the design and manufacture deep convective clouds.
of small satellites. It plans to The Pacific storm track, they noted, plays a critical role
launch the first small remote in global atmospheric circulation, and altering this
sensing satellite by 2010. weather pattern could have a significant effect on the cli-
The agency said that the The programme is designed mate. "The intensified storms over the Pacific in winter
Lavochkin Research and Pro- to assist the country’s eco- are climatically significant," the researchers wrote. "The
duction Center is developing nomic growth by making intensified Pacific storm track can also impact the global
a unified Karat micro-plat- space technology an impor- general circulation." A particular threat, they added, is
form for astrophysical, Earth tant industry in the next the potential for increased warming of polar regions.
remote sensing and other decade, and to use that The research was supported by National Science Foun-
fundamental research micro- industry to survey and moni- dation, Department of Energy and the National Aeronau-
satellites, which will operate tor natural resources, the tics and Space Administration (NASA).
for at least five years. environment and natural RRaannddoollpphh EE.. SScchhmmiidd,, TThhee AAssssoocciiaatteedd PPrreessss
According to the space hazards. (http://www.theolympian.com/101/story/68954.html)
agency, “the platform will be www.vietnamnews.vnagency.com.vn
MARCH 2007 GIS DEVELOPMENT : ASIA PACIFIC 11
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News
carried a larger sediment es in Asia and the Middle lites from the Alcântara Base,
load than during regular East, and provides early in the northeastern Brazilian
rainfall and river flow. Low warning. Pine Gap is also state of Maranhão. The first
rainfall preceding the linked to a new Space Based launch should take place by
increased flow means that Infrared System (SBIRS) of 2009, according to the Brazil-
potentially harmful pollu- satellites which give imme- ian Space Agency (AEB),
tants such as pesticides, her- diate warning of missile which completed 13 years of
bicides and fertilisers have launches anywhere on earth existence on February 10th,
had time to accumulate, hav- and are a key part of the cur- 2007. The company is expect-
ing a significant impact on rent US administration's ed to earn profit of roughly
AUSTRALIA the marine ecology of the Missile Defence programme. 10% of the global satellite
reef. The United States is also launching market, worth
Satellite images show
The CSIRO used images involved in the operation of US$ 10 billion, over the next
river pollution threaten-
from NASA satellites to build another base at Northwest eight years, since countries
ing Great Barrier Reef
up a picture of what was Cape in Western Australia, that own satellites will need
Pesticide-rich plumes of sedi- happening during these which acts as a signals base to pay to use the base and
ment spewing out of Aus- extreme events which may for US nuclear submarines in the launching technology.
tralian river mouths have have gone unnoticed above Asia and the Pacific. Another Another goal of AEB is to
been shown to reach the the surface but could have facility at Geraldton inter- launch a third satellite, built
Great Barrier Reef, the lasting consequences for cepts mobile telephone sig- in partnership with China,
world's largest coral reef sys- coastal waters. nals and communications in which will provide images of
tem, threatening to damage www.edie.net a region extending from the the national territory, such
Antarctica to Siberia. as deforested areas in the
US to build
www.domain-b.com Amazon Basin.
military satellite
http://www.anba.com.br
communications
base in Australia
BRAZIL
The United States will build a USA
Brazil, Ukraine to
new military satellite com-
jointly establish NASA, Virgin Galactic
munications base in Aus-
space company to Explore Future
tralia according to Australian
Cooperation
the coral and other marine foreign minister Alexander An agreement between the
life that make up the natural Downer. The agreement, it Brazil and Ukraine seeks to NASA officials signed a
wonder. Australia's Com- would appear, has been establish Brasília - a joint memorandum of under-
monwealth Scientific and arrived at after three years of venture company for rockets standing on February 21 with
Industrial Research Organi- secret negotiations between and satellites, that should a U.S. based company, Virgin
sation (CSIRO) has published the two governments. begin operating this year. Galactic, LLC, to explore the
satellite images which show The new base, to be located Brazil will open up its space potential for collaborations
that the commonly-held at Geraldton, 400 km north base in Alcântara, in the on the development of space
belief that river waters of the city of Perth, will relay northern Brazilian state of suits, heat shields for space-
would disperse before reach- signals and intelligence to Maranhão while Ukraine ships, hybrid rocket motors
ing the reef was not always US forces in the Middle East will provide its rocket and hypersonic vehicles
true. and Asia. According to launching technology.
The plumes are the result of Downer, construction of the The objective is to enter the
heavy rainfalls in northern base will start in a few competition for the global
Queensland in late January months. The United States satellite launching market,
and early February 2007 fol- already operates a base at worth US$ 10 billion. The
lowing a long dry season. Pine Gap, near Alice Spings, partnership is aimed at
The resulting flood waters which tracks missile launch- launching rockets and satel-
12 GIS DEVELOPMENT : ASIA PACIFIC MARCH 2007
8-18.qxp 3/23/2007 3:24 PM Page 13
capable of traveling five or that a Web-based service,
3D laser mapping
more times the speed of which could be up and run-
sound. The memorandum is ning in three to five years, technology tracks dinosaurs
only a framework to explore could improve reporting on
potential collaborations. It disasters, the coordination of
does not include training of a response, the dissemina-
NASA astronauts, an agree- tion of information and pro-
ment to buy seats on a Virgin mote resident-to-resident
Galactic flight, or provision assistance.
of technical advice by NASA Ben Shneiderman, profes-
to Virgin Galactic. sor and founding director of
“This understanding with the HumanComputer Inter-
Virgin Galactic affords NASA action Laboratory at the Uni-
an opportunity to work with versity of Maryland, and col-
an emerging company in the league Jennifer Preece, pro-
commercial human space fessor and dean of the uni-
transportation industry to versity's College of Informa-
support the agency’s explo- tion Studies, outline their 3D Laser Mapping has supplied a high performance laser
ration, science and aeronau- idea for a community scanning system to assist with a European research proj-
tics mission goals,” said S. response grid ect to map the footprints of dinosaurs. The project, jointly
Pete Worden, director of The researchers point to the undertaken by the University of Manchester and Univer-
NASA Ames Research Center. success of Web-based social sitat Autònoma de Barcelona, used an advanced RIEGL
The agreement with Virgin computing services such as laser scanner with integrated digital camera and satellite
Galactic was negotiated MySpace and Craigslist.com, positioning technology to accurately record and locate
through NASA’s Space Portal, which service millions of individual dinosaur footprints. The project is tracing the
a newly formed organization users every day. If local, state movements of dinosaurs and is assessing the effects of
in the NASA Research Park at and federal agencies adopted weathering and erosion on the footprints.
Ames, which seeks to engage a similar model, they could “This project would simply not have been possible
new opportunities for NASA establish a two-way line of without the laser scanning system,” said Dr David Hod-
to promote the development communication between getts, Lecturer in Reservoir Modelling and Petroleum
of the commercial space individuals and emergency Geology, School of Earth, Atmospheric and Environmen-
economy. The memorandum responders. The idea is to tal Sciences at The University of Manchester. “Due to the
of understanding will be in establish a website where fragile environment and the sensitivity of the site we
effect for two years and stip- community members regis- were not permitted direct contact and therefore all meas-
ulates that neither NASA nor ter in advance. Such a site urements had to taken remotely. Laser scanning allowed
Virgin Galactic will be could link to community the rapid, high resolution digital mapping of an other-
required to pay any fees or groups that already exist, wise inaccessible site.”
provide funds to support the such as parent-teacher asso- The project will document and record the effects of
areas of possible collabora- ciations, tenant organiza- weathering and erosion on the dinosaur relics and
tion. tions or wildlife clubs, for provide a permanent record in order that researchers can
www.nasa.gov.in example. People would visit understand the move-
the site regularly as active ments of these
Web-Based Emergency
members of their group, ancient rep-
Response Proposed
building their community tiles. The data
In the age of wireless Inter- and trust. In the face of an generated by the
net and mobile phones, casu- emergency, alerted members laser scanner will be used to
alties occuring due to lack of could contact fire and law produce highly detailed and
communication might be enforcement personnel via accurate 3D models.
avoided. Researchers suggest email or mobile phone with www.directionsmag.com
MARCH 2007 GIS DEVELOPMENT : ASIA PACIFIC 13
8-18.qxp 3/23/2007 3:24 PM Page 14
such details as location, pho- Force Station in Florida on GITA's 2007 Lifetime in giving everyone access to
tos and even video. The web- February 18. The launch was Achievement Award. The the basic spatial literacy
site could also be accessed by delayed by one day because award recognizes an individ- that’s needed to use the tools
emergency responders, who of high upper-level winds. ual’s outstanding contribu- effectively.
could, for example, send a Racing into space on the tions and long-standing “I’m immensely honored by
warning via email or text flaming power of three rock- commitment to the geospa- this award, especially as it
message to registered users et stages and nine solid rock- tial industry. comes from an organization
living in a danger zone. Or et motors, the five THEMIS The presentation was made that emphasizes the impor-
thanks to GPS-enabled cell probes separated from the during GITA’s Annual Con- tance of education in the
phones, they could locate Delta 2 rocket more than an ference held between March broad and expanding
members on a geographical hour after launch. 4-7, 2007, at the Henry B. geospatial community. This
map and contact them with The satellites will disperse Gonzalez Convention Center is a very exciting time to be
specifics about where to go around Earth to monitor in San Antonio, Texas. working in this area, particu-
and what to do. powerful geomagnetic sub- Goodchild is a professor of larly for the younger genera-
Paying to use social net- storms in the Earth's atmos- geography at the University tion,” Goodchild said.
working as an infrastructure phere that can damage com- of California, Santa Barbara; www.spatialnews.geocomm.com
for emergency response munications satellites, dis- chair of the Executive Com-
could be a challenge. Ben able power grids and shoot mittee, National Center for
Shneiderman and Preece high levels of radiation Geographic Information and EUROPE
suggest that a community down on spacewalking Analysis (NCGIA); associate
Envisat
response grid could be paid astronauts and airplane pas- director of the Alexandria
completes five
for with user fees collected sengers flying over northern Digital Library Project; and
successful years
by Internet service providers. latitudes as well as intensify director of NCGIA’s Center
www.dsc.discovery.com the Northern Lights or auro- for Spatially Integrated Launched from Kourou in
ra borealis. NASA is under- Social Science. French Guiana on the night
THEMIS Launched
taking the mission to investi- Goodchild received his of 28 February 2002, ESA’s
Successfully
gate what causes auroras in bachelor’s degree from Cam- Envisat spacecraft marks its
Taking multitasking to new the Earth's atmosphere to bridge University in physics
heights, NASA launched five change in appearance and in 1965 and his Ph.D. in geog-
THEMIS (short for Time dissipate. Discovering why raphy from McMaster Uni-
History of Events and the light of auroras can fluc- versity in 1969. He first
Macroscale Interactions dur- tuate and fade will provide encountered geographic
scientists with important information systems and
details on how the planet's computer mapping in the
protective magnetosphere late 1960s, when it was a
works and on the sun-Earth struggling high-end comput-
connection. ing application, and said he fifth year in space. Having
www.nasa.gov.in is particularly gratified by orbited Earth more than
the response the technology 26,000 times, the world’s
Michael Goodchild
has received in universities. largest and most complex
Receives GITA’s
Goodchild expressed his environmental satellite ever
Lifetime Achievement
pleasure on the fact that vir- launched has travelled a
Award
tually anyone with a Web distance of more than
The Geospatial Information browser can make use of 1,000,000,000 kilometres,
& Technology Association geospatial tools; but, at the nearly the equivalent of trav-
(GITA) announced on March same time he said that elling to Jupiter and back.
ing Substorms) satellites 7 that Michael F. Goodchild geospatial professionals Generating some 280 Giga-
aboard a single Delta II rock- of Santa Barbara, California, have only begun to recognize bytes of data products daily,
et from Cape Canaveral Air has been presented with how far they still have to go Envisat has gathered
14 GIS DEVELOPMENT : ASIA PACIFIC MARCH 2007