Hello, and welcome to GeoSpatial Stream. I’m your host, Todd Danielson, and today’s Lead Sponsor is Bentley Systems.
Today’s Top Story is 2016. This is our first episode to start the new year, and I like to kick them off be going over an annual tradition here at V1 Media: the Sensors & Systems 10 Predictions for 2016, written by Matt Ball, the founder and editorial director of V1 Media.
At number 1 is New Reality, with several new Virtual Reality platforms being rolled out in the near future. This trend has been anticipated for a few years, but perhaps this is the year Virtual Reality finally makes a major impact.
At number 2 is Automated Mapping. Machine Learning is in the early stages, but new technology already is analyzing imagery to automatically categorize and classify details, in some cases down to the street curb. Such technology will improve, speeding up mapping, and reducing costs. Number 3 is, of course, drones. They’re everywhere in the news, both good and bad, including here at GeoSpatial Stream. I’m guessing Matt didn’t want to be too obvious by putting drones at number one. At 4 is Improved Insights, which refers to Big Data analytics that use artificial intelligence and algorithms to find the useful information, particularly in imagery and all its new source sensors flooding into the market. Number 5 is Alternative Positioning, referring to new technologies that may replace GPS as well as indoor positioning, which is making major progress of late. Number 6, Disruption Wins, refers to the Millennial Generation and its penchant for changing the status quo and moving things in new directions. And 7 is Map Ecosystems and the machine-control systems that are automating many mapping and construction processes completely. Eight is Government Investment, recently found in the 2016 Spending Bill that increased funding for NASA, NOAA, USGS and the Census Department. Number 9 is Making Models, which ranges from BIM on the infrastructure side to converting imagery to real, usable base models.
And finally at 10 is Monitoring Baselines, a trend sparked by last year’s restructuring of the National Science Foundation’s Ecology Network, which was failing to meet expectations. No government project or leadership should feel beyond reproach going forward.
That was today’s Top Story. I’ll be back with more news after this interview clip from Bentley Systems Year In Infrastructure 2015 event.
NASA’s Global Precipitation Measurement satellite analyzed extreme and deadly weather that hit the United States between Dec. 23-27, 2015. Heavy rainfall, flooding and tornado outbreaks affected areas from the Southwest through the Midwest. At least 26 people were killed due to the storms.
And here’s a video from the European Space Agency that used data from its CryoSat mission to model the changing heights of Earth’s largest ice sheets, including those floating in polar oceans as well as the ice sheets covering Greenland and Antarctica. Preliminary estimates suggest Greenland, for example, is losing 250 trillion kilograms of ice per year.
In industry headlines, Esri published Cartographer Cynthia A. Brewer’s new edition of Designing Better Maps: A Guide for GIS Users.
USGS published the first-ever digital geologic map of Alaska, providing land users, managers and scientists with geologic information for evaluating land use in relation to resource extraction, conservation, natural hazards and recreation.
VisionMap introduced a new Web site.
And Earth-i released new sample imagery from its DMC3/TripleSat satellite constellation.
And now for today’s Final Thought. I came across this image recently released by NASA. It’s meant to rekindle the memory of a famous photo taken in 1968 by the Apollo astronauts as they orbited the moon. Although this new version is slightly computer enhanced and taken by a robot, it still conjures up the same feelings as the original Earthrise picture—that it’s all about perspective. What we see of the moon is just what we see. And the same with Earth. An astronaut or spacecraft camera can see something entirely different that shows how we’re all part of a larger picture, that’s part of an even larger picture, and almost everything is a matter of, yes, perspective. Personally, I love that idea.
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I’m Todd Danielson, and this … was your GeoSpatial Stream.
