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The [acronym] online blog is the public sector’s complete source of up-to-the-minute news and information about computer-aided design and related digital design technologies for the fields of AEC, manufacturing, and GIS.
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Category Archives: Geospatial
RFID and GPS Technology Tracks Alabama Students as they Make their Way to School
Starting February 2012, students at three Alabama schools have been part of a pilot project
designed to enhance child safety between home and school! Using ID cards with radio frequency identification device (RFID) technology built-in, students are scanned as they get on and off school buses. Combining the RFID data with GPS, the system transmits the student’s location data to a remote server, which allows a Huntsville school official to access it if they need to. The technology is called ZPass and was developed and by Zonar Systems. ZPass is intended to improve child safety so that parents know if their kids are on their school bus. Continue reading
Monroe County, N.Y. Gets GIS Vehicle!
Did you know that the Geographic Information System (GIS) Services Division in Monroe County, New York now has its own GIS technology vehicle? “While Google’s Street View picture-snapping cars are out and about in most countries in the U.S., in New York state only Monroe County has its own GIS technology vehicle.” (Mobile GIS Vehicle Puts Monroe County, N.Y., on the Map).
Google Street View launched for five U.S. cities in May 2007 and now their 360-degree panoramic views include locations on all seven continents. Google currently uses cars, trikes, snowmobiles, and trolleys to collect imagery. (Cars, Trikes & More) Continue reading
TomTom Brings Navigation and Mapping Data to the Public Sector
Say the phrase “TomTom” and what’s most likely to come to mind is a company that manufacturers consumer automobile navigation systems. In fact, TomTom is the leading manufacturer of consumer navigation systems in Europe. But did you know that TomTom also provides navigation systems, mapping data and handheld navigations devices to Federal, State and Local governments, too?
TomTom’s government product solution line was the subject of a recent webcast, TomTom Maps and Applications for Government GIS, hosted by TomTom and our sponsor DLT Solutions. The discussion was led by James Pardue, Manager of Government Programs. Continue reading
Geospatial Treasure Chest – The [acronym] Geospatial Archive
GEOINT 2011 is right around the corner. If your’e not familiar with the event, GEOINT is the defacto gathering for defense, intelligence and homeland security communities looking to learn more about the latest trends and technologies in the geointelligence space. To get our readers prepared for what should be a successful GEOINT experience, we thought we’d take a look back at [acronym] Online’s archive of articles on geointelligence.
From using Google Maps to visualize the post-tornado destruction in Joplin, MO to helping urban residents locate HIV/AIDS testing centers, all levels of government can benefit themselves and their constituents by exploiting all the uses that GIS has to offer. Continue reading
What to Expect at GEOINT Symposium 2011
In less than three weeks, the geospatial intelligence community will gather in San Antonio, Texas for the annual GEOINT Symposium. This year’s event will be held from October 16th through the 19th will be held at the San Antonio’s Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center.
The GEOINT Symposium is the preeminent event of the year for the defense, intelligence and homeland security communities. This year’s theme is Forged Integrated Intelligence and as such will feature such keynote speakers as Gen. Keith B. Alexander, U.S. Army, commander, U.S. Cyber Command and director, National Security Agency (NSA); Bruce Carlson, director, National Reconnaissance Office (NRO); the Honorable James R. Clapper Jr., Director of National Intelligence (DNI); and more. Continue reading
When Tools Converge to Help Cities Monitor their Entire Water System
By Pam Broviak, City Engineer/Assistant Director of Public Works at City of Geneva, Illinois.
When my past employer, the city of LaSalle, installed an automatic meter reading (AMR) system, I was excited about the technology and looked forward to improving the efficiency of our meter reading and water billing system. Some of the benefits included tracking and notifications to staff of customer leaks, immediate final reads, high/low water usage, and tampering alerts. Yet, as an engineer, I also planned on using the data for designing, monitoring, and operating our water system.
My vision had been to link the data to a digital map created from our GIS where dots represented meters. Colors and other indicators would tell us of real-time reads, flows, pressures, and all that good stuff allowing a visualization of how our system was functioning using real-time actual data. Unfortunately, once I saw the software and asked about the ability to extract data from the database, not only did the vendors seem surprised anyone would even want this information, they made it clear their system was designed for billing only. If we wanted to do anything more with the data, we would have to hire our own programmer and create our own setup. Continue reading
Flood Plain Analysis and Mapping – The Geospatial Tools that Keep Us High and Dry
The ongoing flooding in North Dakota has presented a monumental challenge to all parties affected by the natural disaster. From residents living in the affected areas to the state and local government agencies in charge of coordinating sandbagging efforts and other preventative measures. Not to mention the relief and recovery efforts that will likely continue long after the water has receded.
However technological developments are making it easier for public works departments and emergency services to better anticipate and plan for, and hopefully prevent such devastating consequences as we are seeing in North Dakota. Continue reading
Shortcutting the Geocoding Process for Easy Data Search and Visualization (on the fly)!
This blog was written by guest blogger, Eliot Danner, Principal of Reperio Concepts
The steady pace of innovation in geospatial visualization has given rise to a new problem: the need to geocode increasing quantities of data and the corresponding need to manage and search this data. In this article, I am going to discuss a new way to bring data into geospatial environments and a new way to search and manage this data.
A popular maxim in the geospatial community is “80% of all data contains geospatial information” (or something to that effect). True or not it is certainly the case that a great deal of information can be geocoded and, more importantly, that having this information geocoded, that is to say, visible on a map, can be of value to decision makers. Continue reading
Breaching the Frozen Frontier – Studying the Poles via Geospatial Data
With a population that is expected to reach 7 billion in 2011, it is fascinating to contemplate that there are still reaches of the earth where humans have never set foot. However, thanks to the proliferation of satellites and ever-improving satellite imagery, there may come a time when we will have virtually set foot on every part of the earth’s surface. The planet’s poles are prime candidates for exploration via satellite. The harsh climates make physical exploration difficult, dangerous, and expensive. But thanks to advances in GIS technology, scientists of every discipline will have the opportunity to research previously unknown facts on an unimagined scale. Continue reading
Public Works Technology on a Shoestring Budget
This article was guest-written by Nancy Mann Jackson
City and county budgets have been slashed over the past few years, but residents still expect the same level of service they enjoyed during more prosperous times. Public works departments still must pick up garbage and recyclables, repair potholes, and maintain other services, but with less money. In some cities, public works departments are finding ways to go beyond the status quo, creatively using technology to improve services in an affordable way.
For instance, a new city administration in Chicago recently initiated a 10 percent budget cut across all departments, but services continue to improve, thanks to creative solutions implemented by Thomas Byrne, commissioner of the Department of Streets and Sanitation. One ward supervisor oversees each of the city’s 50 wards, and those supervisors once spent many hours driving around their wards, keeping up with the sanitation trucks assigned to them and making sure they stayed on schedule. Byrne and his staff recently installed GPS devices in each sanitation truck, and connected those devices to Blackberry devices provided to the ward supervisors. “Now a ward supervisor can go to the [Chicago Mobile Asset Tracker] CMAT database with his Blackberry anytime and it shows him where each truck is that is assigned to him,” Byrne says. “They know exactly where all their trucks are all the time.” Continue reading
