February 6, 2013
Can Geospatial Innovation Save the World? Despite the recent proliferation of brainy electronic gadgets, computers on steroids and robots that can perform better than humans, innovation in its broadest sense could be facing significant headwinds. From roughly the late 1800s to today, a 2 percent output-per-person annual growth rate has enabled America to enjoy a standard of living
February 6, 2013
By Laura Lundin, National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (www.nga.mil), Office of Geospatial Intelligence Management, Springfield, Va. For many organizations, shrinking budgets and constrained resources mean slashing existing programs and limiting future investments. But how do decision makers determine where to cut and where to invest while limiting risks often associated with new technologies and aging legacy systems? For the
December 11, 2012
Dealing a Blow to Science What’s next? That’s what scientists around the globe, including many remote sensing professionals focused on Earth science, are wondering after theOct. 22, 2012, manslaughter convictions of six Italian scientists who had the unenviable job of determining whether a major earthquake was likely to occur in central Italy in the spring
December 11, 2012
U.S. Environmental Intelligence Efforts Need Leadership By Nancy Colleton, president, Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (http://strategies.org), Arlington, Va. There’s nothing like a 70-mph wind gust to get your attention. It seems like only yesterday I found myself writing about the hottest July ever recorded in the United States and how it was impacting U.S.
December 11, 2012
By Ken White, Office of Corporate Communications, National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (www.nga.mil), Bethesda, Md. National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency Director Letitia A. Long outlined the agency’s three-way transformation of geospatial intelligence (GEOINT) during the U.S. Geospatial Intelligence Foundation’s GEOINT 2012 Symposium in Orlando, Fla.,Oct. 9, 2012. Long took the stage amid applause from thousands of attendees, following a
October 4, 2012
When a Picture Is Worth a Thousand Lives Fifty years ago, in October 1962, Soviet Union Foreign Minister Andrei Gromyko sat in John F. Kennedy’s office, assuring the young American president that the buildup of Soviet-made missiles on the island nation of Cuba was purely a contribution to Cuba’s national defense capabilities. Gromyko went on to say that the “training by Soviet
October 4, 2012
Disaster Response Efforts Highlight the Value of Relationships By M. Karen Walker, contractor, Office of Corporate Communications, National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (www.nga.mil), Bethesda, Md. The U.S. response toHaiti’s January 2010 earthquake in demonstrated the life-saving power of governmental, private-sector and nongovernmental organizations working together during disaster response. Thanks to an emerging group of organizations loosely called Volunteer Technical Communities (VTCs)—such as the International
October 4, 2012
By George Demmy , chief technical officer and co-founder, TerraGo Technologies (www.terragotech.com), Atlanta. As the defense and intelligence communities convene for this year’s GEOINT Symposium, the geospatial industry, which occupies an increasingly important role within the community, is diligently working to help its customers and partners fulfill their missions in the face of a
July 18, 2012
Earth Observation Faces Dire Straits The capacity to observe and study our planet from space faces serious challenges during the coming years. A host of aging satellites, along with several mainstay platforms that recently have failed, plus insufficient funding for future programs, are converging to form the perfect storm for a world of inadequate Earth
July 18, 2012
High-Resolution Satellite Imagery— Can Funding Keep Pace With Technology? By Ian Dowman, professor emeritus, University College London, and author of High-Resolution Optical Satellite Imagery, available from Whittles Publishing (www.whittlespublishing.com) and in North America from CRC Press (www.crcpress.com). The acquisition of high-resolution images from satellites has developed at a rapid pace since GeoEye launched Ikonos
5th Anniversary Special Edition
