GEO World articles from December 2003

GEO World archives from December 2003

Beautiful waves, but strong undertow.(Position)
December 1, 2003... Fortunately, GeoWorld is blessed with a devoted Editorial Advisory Board that actively shapes the future direction of the geotechnology industry. Since 1992, we have devoted significant space in this end-of-year issue to enlist the wisdom and...

Intermap launches NEXT Map USA project.(Newslink)
December 1, 2003... Intermap Technologies Corp., Denver, announced a plan to map the entire continental United States with its Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (IFSAR) technology. The NEXTMap USA project will provide elevation data and orthorectified radar...

Model data distribution policy developed.(Newslink)
December 1, 2003... After months of input from a diverse group of industry insiders, the Open Data Consortium (ODC) developed a model data distribution policy to help guide local government in the distribution of geospatial data. The consortium was formed as a...

DNA testing combines geography and genealogy.(Newslink)
December 1, 2003... The British DNA testing company Roots for Real (http://www.rootsforreal.com) pioneered a service to geographically track an individual's ancestors based on mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) signatures. Mitochondrial DNA is passed from mother to...

Bentley and Adobe team to promote PDF.(Newslink)
December 1, 2003... Facing targeted competition from Autodesk, Adobe Systems teamed with Bentley Systems to defend, promote and enhance the use of Adobe's Portable Document Format (PDF) for engineering and design information and document workflows (see "Autodesk...

Satellites capture Southern California fires.
December 1, 2003... Satellites provided a valuable perspective on the fires in Southern California as thick smoke filled the air from Los Angeles to San Diego in late, October 2003. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) sensor on the Terra...

Blue Marble Geographics, Gardiner, Maine.(Online Update)
December 1, 2003... The town of Madison, Maine, subscribed to Blue Marble Geographics' BeyondGeo Internet mapping service, which enables businesses and organizations to publish interactive maps on the Web. http://www.bluemarblegeo.com

CORDA Technologies Inc., Lindon, Utah.(Online Update)
December 1, 2003... As a public service and in recognition of October as National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, CORDA Technologies created a Breast Cancer Awareness Web site using its PopChart + OptiMap technology. The site features interactive maps, graphs and...

ESRI Business Information Solutions (BIS), Vienna, VA.(Online Update)
December 1, 2003... ESRI BIS redesigned its Web site for easier navigation and improved reporting capabilities. The site integrates segmentation and business data with GIS technology to enable users to perform marketing applications via the Web. Enhancements...

Ordnance Survey, Southampton, United Kingdom.(Online Update)
December 1, 2003... Ordnance Survey unveiled a series of online service improvements to help business customers source its flagship digital map data, OS MasterMap. The improvements are designed to make it easier to choose and order data as well as set up, amend...

Pharos Science & Applications Inc., Torrance, Calif.(Online Update)
December 1, 2003... Pharos Science & Applications introduced Smart Navigator, a Web-based service that combines Global Positioning System navigation, real-time traffic and dynamic points-of-interest lookup for users of Microsoft Windows Mobile-based Pocket PCs and...

Internet resource of the month.
December 1, 2003... NEW JERSEY GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION NETWORK http://njgin.nj.gov The New Jersey Office of Information Technology's Office of Geographic Information Systems (OGIS) launched the New Jersey Geographic Information Network (NJGIN), which...

Daratech, Cambridge, Mass.(People Link)
December 1, 2003... Sue Churchill will oversee Daratech's global sales and marketing efforts, including product development, product and project management, sales management and customer relationship management. Tim Hickey will oversee all Daratech publications,...

Leica Geosystems, Heerbrugg, Switzerland.(People Link)
December 1, 2003... David Donahue rejoined Leica Geosystems as director of sales for the northeast region, and David Page was named technical sales representative in the eastern Ontario region. http://gis.leica-geosystems.com

Ordnance Survey, Southampton, United Kingdom.(People Link)
December 1, 2003... Mike Sommer was appointed a non-executive director of Ordnance Survey, responsible for strengthening external perspectives and helping shape Ordnance Survey policies. http://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk

PBS&J Orlando, Fla.(People Link)
December 1, 2003... PBS&J added Philip D. Miller to its National Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) Division as a senior ITS specialist. Miller will be supporting payment systems with an initial focus on toll systems and business process management. ...

Sanborn, Colorado Springs, Colo.(People Link)
December 1, 2003... Bob Williams, a former vice president of sales and marketing, returned to run Sanborn's St. Louis office. Williams now is senior vice president and general manager, and he will be responsible for the technical operation, sales and marketing...

Former Wyoming Governor joins ESRI.
December 1, 2003... Former Wyoming Governor Jim Geringer joined Redlands, Calif.- based ESRI. Geringer, a strong advocate for technology in government, completed his second term as governor in January 2003. Prior to the governorship, he served in the Wyoming...

FGDC names new staff director.
December 1, 2003... The Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC), the interagency group charged with developing a National Spatial Data Infrastructure, named as its staff director Ivan B. DeLoatch, a 23-year veteran of environmental program, technical and policy...

NASA satellite back online.(Government Connection)
December 1, 2003... A NASA satellite that stopped working shortly after its launch in January 2003 resumed operation in October. The satellite, NASA's Ice, Cloud and Land Elevation Satellite (ICESat), was launched Jan. 12, 2003, on a Boeing Delta II rocket from...

NIMA develops new image.(Government Connection)
December 1, 2003... After inking its multimillion-dollar NextView contract for commercial imagery, the National Imagery and Mapping Agency (NIMA) is continuing to change its image as well as the way it does business. The signing of the fiscal 2004 Defense...

Differential GPS speeding toward land.
December 1, 2003... A program to bring high-accuracy differential Global Positioning System (DGPS) technology to land applications continues to gain speed. The U.S. Coast Guard already oversees a service that broadcasts GPS correction signals on marine...

URISA focuses on progress in Atlanta.(Conference Connection)
December 1, 2003... The conference theme and a showcase of new initiatives provided a focus on progress at the annual Urban and Regional Information Systems Association (URISA) Conference and Exposition held Oct. 11-15, 2003, in Atlanta. The theme, "Powering...

Geospatial intelligence transformation apparent at Geo-Intel.(Conference Connection)
December 1, 2003... The high-level awareness and considerable role of geospatial intelligence concerning the war on Iraq and homeland security was apparent at the first annual Spatial Technologies Industry Association (STIA) Geo-Intel 2003 event that took place...

Geographers celebrate AAG Centennial.
December 1, 2003... Approximately 5,000 geographers from around the world are expected to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Association of American Geographers (AAG) on March 14-19, 2004, in Philadelphia. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The...

Constructing realistic downhill flows proves difficult.(Beyond Mapping)
December 1, 2003... The instinct of a herd of raindrops is unwavering. As soon as they hit the ground, they start running downhill as fast as they can. But not all of the downhill options are the same. Some slopes are extremely steep and call the raindrops...

What can GIS do to save geography?(Edge Nodes)
December 1, 2003... During March 14-19, 2004, the Association of American Geographers (AAG) will return to Philadelphia, the site of the organization's first annual meeting 100 years ago (http://www.aag.org/annualmeetings/index.cfm). Judging by the constant...

Get centimeter-level results from single-frequency GPS.(GPS/GIS Integration)
December 1, 2003... If you're looking to buy or already own an L1 Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver, you may be able to achieve results better than one centimeter. But all GPS equipment isn't created equally, so you probably won't impress your surveying...

Industry outlook 2004: making waves in the mainstream.(Industry Trends)(Cover Story)
December 1, 2003... The forces of change and opportunities that they bring expand yearly, as geotechnology gains broader acceptance and adoption. To cover a wide range of topics and business drivers, we've asked our board members to focus on three areas:...

POLARIS shines in Carolina.(Parcel Management)
December 1, 2003... CENTERED AROUND CHARLOTTE, N.C., Mecklenburg County is the densest population center in the Carolinas; with a 2003 population of 773,299. The county has 527 square miles and approximately 280,000 tax parcels. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] To...

High-performance graphics cards make GIS visualizations sing.(Software/Hardware Integration)
December 1, 2003... HIGH-END VISUALIZATIONS USING SPATIAL information depend on several factors, including quality spatial data, GIS software that can access and alter topology effectively, and robust computer hardware that can efficiently render large data files...

World Corporate Profiles.(Advertising Supplement)
December 1, 2003... Welcome to "World Corporate Profiles," an annual addition to GeoWorld's widely read "Industry Outlook" issue. This special advertising section offers a comprehensive look at the geographic technology products and services offered by many of...

Data.(Product News)
December 1, 2003... ESRI BUSINESS INFORMATION SOLUTIONS (BIS), VIENNA, VA. http://www.esribis.com ESRI BIS launched its Retail MarketPlace, a new database that enables businesses to analyze supply (retail sales) and demand (consumer spending or retail...

Software.(Product News)
December 1, 2003... ALGO VISION LURATECH, BERLIN http://www.algovision-luratech.com Algo Vision LuraTech introduced its LuraDocument.jpm PDF compressor, which enables the storage of highly compressed files in PDF format without loss to image quality. ...

Hardware.(Product News)
December 1, 2003... HP, PALO ALTO, CALIF. http://www.hp.com HP introduced its HP Workstation zx2000 (1.4GHz), a 64-bit Intel Itanium 2-based workstation deigned to deliver performance, flexibility and value for design engineers. The workstation helps...

Miscellaneous.(Product News)
December 1, 2003... DAT/EM SYSTEMS INTERNATIONAL, ANCHORAGE, ALASKA http://www.datem.com DAT/EM Systems International developed a digital photogrammetric workstation using Blue Marble's GeoCalc tool kit. Summit Evolution allows customers to perform 3-D...

Broadband Services Inc. (BSI), Highlands Ranch, Colo.(Business News)
December 1, 2003... BSI will provide its MapVantage intelligent mapping services and fiber management tools for Seren Innovations' broadband system operations. http://www.broadbandsvc.com To submit information for "Product News" and "Business News," send...

Cadcorp, Stevenage, United Kingdom.(Business News)
December 1, 2003... Cadcorp appointed new distributors: Consulcad in Melbourne, Australia; Cadstation in Brisbane, Australia; and Matrix in Auckland, New Zealand. http://www.cadcorp.com

CompassCom Inc., Centennial, Colo.(Business News)
December 1, 2003... The Florida Keys Mosquito Control District (FKMCD) contracted AT&T Wireless business partner CompassCom to provide Automatic Vehicle Location (AVL) technology and GIS mapping support for a major mosquito control program. FKMCD purchased...

CORDA Technologies Inc., Lindon, Utah.(Business News)
December 1, 2003... CORDA Technologies announced that Toyota, Home Depot, The Limited and Pratt & Whitney purchased its PopChart or OptiMap data visualization solutions. Also, Chick-fil-A Inc., the third-largest chicken restaurant chain in the United States,...

DigitalGlobe, Longmont, Colo.(Business News)
December 1, 2003... A new study documents the potential that DigitalGlobe's high-resolution QuickBird satellite imagery can bring to post-earthquake damage detection and recovery efforts. The study, conducted by ImageCat Inc., was partially funded by the...

DMTI Spatial, Markham, Ontario, Canada.(Business News)
December 1, 2003... Lowrance Electronics selected DMTI Spatial's CanMap Streetfiles, Enhanced Points of Interest, as well as CanMap Water and Elevation data as the Canadian source for its MapCreate Global Positioning System mapping programs. ...

Earth Resource Mapping, San Diego.(Business News)
December 1, 2003... East Midlands Electricity chose Earth Resource Mapping's Image Web Server technology to distribute its 500GB of orthophoto data. The adoption of Image Web Server technology increased efficiency and reduced operating costs. ...

ESRI, Redlands, Calif.(Business News)
December 1, 2003... The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services' Missouri Emergency Response GIS (MERGIS) program tested the skills of participants from 11 state, local and private organizations in a training endeavor. The drill was designed to test...

ESRI (UK) Ltd., Aylesbury, United Kingdom.(Business News)
December 1, 2003... United Kingdom's Environment Agency signed an additional three-year contract for the supply of corporate GIS technology and services with ESRI (UK). The agency plans to roll out spatial information as a corporate standard to up to 10,000 staff...

Farmers National Co. Inc., Omaha, Neb.(Business News)
December 1, 2003... Infinite Decision Systems joined Farmers National as a new division that will provide mapping technology information for golf courses, construction companies, lake or pond owners, real estate and agricultural landowners. ...

GeoAnalytics Inc., Madison, Wis.(Business News)
December 1, 2003... Varion Systems, the software development and value-added reseller division of GeoAnalytics, completed a GIS-based maintenance management system for the city of Evanston, Ill. http://www.geoanalytics.com

Geographic Technologies Group (GTG), Goldsboro, N.C.(Business News)
December 1, 2003... GTG won a contract from the city of Midland, Mich., to develop a "GIS Development Plan" that will feature a GIS needs assessment and the development of a phased implementation plan which includes recommendations for hardware, software and...

Geotrac, Norwalk, Ohio.(Business News)
December 1, 2003... OnePointCity, a Web-based settlement system from Geotrac, now offers appraisal products and services from AMCO for first mortgage, equity and refinance lenders. The selection of AMCO products includes eValu, a new property-valuation product...

GlobeXplorer LLC, Walnut Creek, Calif.(Business News)
December 1, 2003... GlobeXplorer will provide online aerial photography for CDS Business Mapping's insurance analysis packages. GlobeXplorer imagery has been incorporated into CDS' Risk Meter tool, which helps map exposure to risk, providing data on coastlines,...

IDEAL.com, Rockville, MD.(Business News)
December 1, 2003... IDEAL.com named Kodak Service & Support a preferred U.S. service provider for its large-format IDEAL/Contex scanners. Kodak Service & Support will provide warranty and post-warranty service, which includes onsite maintenance as well as...

ImageLinks Inc., Melbourne, Fla.(Business News)
December 1, 2003... ImageLinks and Intermap Technologies won a contract for their co-branded STARPlus imagery products. The two companies will build accurate, "cloud-free" base maps for the Solomon and Vanuatu island chains in the South Pacific that cover an area...

Institute of Information Technology Inc. (IIT), the Woodlands Texas.(Business News)
December 1, 2003... IIT won one of the 2003 Fast Tech 50 Awards from the Houston Business Journal. The awards honor the top 50 technology companies in the Houston area that have experienced the greatest percentage revenue growth in 2003. http://www.e-iit.com

Intergraph Mapping and Geospatial Solutions, Huntsville, Ala.(Business News)
December 1, 2003... Intergraph partnered with the International Federation of Surveyors (FIG) to promote the use of advanced technology in land administration and management infrastructure among surveyors and surveying organizations worldwide. Through the...

James W. Sewall Co., Old Town, Maine.(Business News)
December 1, 2003... James W. Sewall completed a tax-map conversion to an ESRI geodatabase for the city of Mount Vernon, N.Y. Using handdrafted mylar tax maps, Sewall converted the city's 11,200 parcels to geodatabase format, modifying the ESRI parcel model to...

Kucera International Inc., Willoughby, Ohio.(Business News)
December 1, 2003... Kucera won a contract from the Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission for digital orthophoto mapping covering approximately 5,400 square miles of the nine-county southwestern Pennsylvania region. http://www.kucera-gis.com

Laser-Scan, Cambridge, United Kingdom.(Business News)
December 1, 2003... Laser-Scan partnered with Swedish firm Spatial Technology, which will be Laser-Scan's Scandinavian reseller for its Radius Topology product. http://www.laser-scan.com

LiDAR services International (LSI), Calgary, Alberta, Canada.(Business News)
December 1, 2003... LSI completed LiDAR projects approximately 180 miles north of the Arctic Circle in northern Canada for three major oil companies: ConocoPhillips, Imperial Oil Resources and Shell Canada Ltd. All projects were located in extreme remote areas of...

LinksPoint, Norwalk, Conn.(Business News)
December 1, 2003... The Chicago Department of Public Health is using LinksPoint's Vector-Watch geographic risk modeling system to aid in the prevention of West Nile Virus by identifying areas within the city where disease activity is present. [ILLUSTRATION...

MapFrame Corp., Dallas.(Business News)
December 1, 2003... MapFrame was named one of the fastest-growing private companies in the United States by Inc. Magazine. In the company's first appearance on the list, MapFrame is ranked 309th, with five-year sales growth of 572 percent. ...

Miner & Miner, Fort Collins, Colo.(Business News)
December 1, 2003... Unitil Corp. selected Miner & Miner's ArcFM Solution technology for its short- and long-term enterprise GIS. Also, Miner & Miner and CGI CYME announced an official business alliance that formalizes the agreement between the two companies to...

Municipal Software Corp., Victoria, British Columbia, Canada.(Business News)
December 1, 2003... Municipal Software added as clients the city of Charlotte, N.C.; the city of Hartford, Conn.; the village of North Aurora, Ill.; and Cherokee County, Ga. http://www.municipalsoftware.com

NAC Geographic Products Inc., Toronto.(Business News)
December 1, 2003... NAC Geographic Products and Cadastral Surveys of Somaliland announced initial success in adopting and implementing the Universal Address System in Somaliland. The Universal Address System and the Natural Area Coding System unify addresses,...

NavCom Technology Inc., Redondo beach, Calif.(Business News)
December 1, 2003... Allsat successfully integrated NavCom's real-time kinematic receivers with its GART-2000 software. Also, Western Latitudes will offer NavCom's Global Positioning System products as well as the Safari SR-7100 Network Radio. ...

ObjectFX Corp., Minneapolis.(Business News)
December 1, 2003... ObjectFX won a U.S. patent that validates the technology behind its SpatialFX product, which enables the integration of dynamic location services and spatial operations into enterprise solutions. The new patent provides exclusive rights to...

Open GIS Consortium Inc., (OGC), Wayland, Mass.(Business News)
December 1, 2003... To assess the use of Web-service applications based on open specifications to collect, maintain and disseminate TIGER data, the Geography Division of the U.S. Census Bureau sponsored the second in a series of Critical Infrastructure Protection...

Orbital Imaging Corp. (ORBIMAGE), Dulles, VA.(Business News)
December 1, 2003... ORBIMAGE reached a settlement agreement with MacDonald Dettwiler & Associates Ltd. (MDA) concerning its remaining marketing rights in the long-delayed Canadian Radarsat-2 satellite program. In exchange for payments totaling $12 million during...

Ordnance Survey, Southampton, United Kingdom.(Business News)
December 1, 2003... Yeoman Navigation Systems and Ordnance Survey will help provide Vodafone live! customers with access to destination maps zooming down to building level as part of Yeoman's TravelM8 service. Also, Ordnance Survey was officially accredited as a...

Pacific Alliance Technologies Inc., Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.(Business News)
December 1, 2003... Pacific Alliance established a presence on Vancouver Island with its new office at 152 Dallas Road, Victoria, BC V8V 1A3, Canada. The office will provide training for Autodesk products in the architectural, GIS and engineering fields. ...

Sanborn, Colorado Springs, Colo.(Business News)
December 1, 2003... Sanborn purchased an UltraCam-D large-format aerial camera from Vexcel Corp. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] http://www.sanborn.com

Snowflake Software, Southampton, United Kingdom.(Business News)
December 1, 2003... Cyngor Cefn Gwlad Cymru, Countryside Council for Wales, chose Snowflake Software's GO Loader to build and manage its Oracle Spatial database of Ordnance Survey MasterMap data for Wales and the surrounding area. The corporate database will...

SPOT Image, Toulouse, France.(Business News)
December 1, 2003... SPOT Image signed a Channel Partnership contract with Inta SpaceTurk, granting them the exclusive rights to distribute SPOT 5 satellite image products and services within Turkey, Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Ukraine, Syria and Lebanon....

Tadpole-Cartesia, Carlsbad, Calif.(Business News)
December 1, 2003... King County, Wash., selected Tadpole-Cartesia's ESRI-based GO! Sync technology for development of TNET, a multimodel GIS transportation network and maintenance program. TNET is a consortium of local government agencies with the collective goal...

TerraImaging B.V., Amsterdam, the Netherlands.(Business News)
December 1, 2003... TerraImaging partnered with 3 Sigma Ventures to formalize a relationship and introduce TerraImaging's LIDAR mapping and other remote-sensing services to the North American market. The agreement includes commitment for a permanent U.S.-based...

TerraSeer, Olympia, Wash.(Business News)
December 1, 2003... For the third year, TerraSeer is offering licenses of BoundarySeer, ClusterSeer and/or SpaceStat to graduate research proposals. TerraSeer will award software to the 10 best graduate student research proposals. http://www.terraseer.com

Thales Navigation, Santa Clara, Calif.(Business News)
December 1, 2003... Thales Navigation is marketing Geodetics Inc.'s Real Time Dynamics Global Positioning System software. http://www.thalesnavigation.com

Ubisense, Cambridge, United Kingdom.(Business News)
December 1, 2003... Ubisense, providers of real-time indoor tracking systems, started a strategic partnership with DEGW. The relationship will help provide Ubisense's Local Positioning System technology to work environments such as healthcare, security,...

Urban and Regional Information Systems Association (URISA), Park Ridge, ILL.(Business News)
December 1, 2003... URISA awarded the city of Elkhart with an Exemplary Systems in Government honorable mention award in the Single Process Category for the design and implementation of its InPlant data management software at the Elkhart Wastewater Treatment...

U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC), Alexandria VA.(Business News)
December 1, 2003... James Damron of the ERDC Topographic Engineering Center applied for a patent on a procedure for merging two or more digital elevation models (DEMs). The invention automatically resolves vertical offsets commonly found when merging DEMs from...

Vexcel Corp., Boulder, Colo.(Business News)
December 1, 2003... Vexcel won a contract from Aerial Services Inc. to deliver the first UltraCam-D large format aerial camera sold in North America. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] http://www.vexcel.com

AltaMap version 4.(Quick-Take Reviews)
December 1, 2003... Price: Contact company. Requirements: Microsoft Windows 98/ME/NT/2000/XP, Pentium II 266 processor (Pentium III recommended), 128-512MB RAM, 30MB disk, CD-ROM drive. Company: GeoMicro Inc., 201 E. Sandpoint Ave., Suite 410, Santa Ana,...

Canvas 9 GIS Edition.(Quick-Take Reviews)
December 1, 2003... Price: Canvas 9--$399.95, GIS Edition--$599.95. Requirements: Microsoft Windows 2000/XP or Macintosh OS X (10.2), 128MB RAM, 100MB disk. Company: ACD Systems, 1150 N.W. 72nd St., Miami, FL 33126 [305-596-5644, fax: 305-406-9802,...

Emergency mapping symbology and next steps.(Open GIS Connection)
December 1, 2003... Police, firefighters and emergency medical technicians are just beginning to use Internet-connected cell phones, personal digital assistants, handheld computers and laptops that provide views into spatial data held in Web servers. But as...