By Peter Baumann, Jacobs University Bremen, chair of the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) Web Coverage Service Standards Working Group, and Lance McKee, OGC senior staff writer. his year marks the 20th anniversary of the founding of the Open Geospatial...
Reflecting on Dr. Roger Tomlinson's Contributions to GIS
“The beginning is the most important part of the work.†—Plato, The Republic On Feb. 9, 2014, Dr. Roger Tomlinson passed away at the age of 80. Anyone who has spent much time around a geographic information system (GIS) likely is familiar with Tomlinson’s...
Landsat 8 Celebrates High-Flying Rookie Season
By Jon Campbell and Rebecca L. Johnson, U.S. Geological Survey (www.usgs.gov), Reston, Va., and Kate Ramsayer, NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center (www.nasa.gov/center/goddard), Greenbelt, Md. It’s hard to believe a year has passed since the launch of Landsat 8. On...
Tracing GEOINT's Evolution
By S. Eugene Poteat, president, Association of Former Intelligence Officers (www.afio.com), Falls Church, Va. From its early beginnings, technology has been the common thread that has advanced geospatial intelligence (GEOINT) to where it is today. The CIA’s U-2...
Seeking a Technology Edge
Technology is developing so rapidly that it’s becoming more and more challenging to put a value on it. For instance, reflect on Google’s 2012 purchase of Motorola Mobility for around $12.5 billion. The acquisition gave the company access to more than 17,000...
Emerging Space Programs Pursue Earth Observation Investment Strategies
By Adam Keith, director of Space and Earth Observation, Euroconsult (www.euroconsult-ec.com), Montreal, Canada. From 2003–2012, 164 Earth observation (EO) satellites, including those for meteorology purposes, were launched by civil government and commercial entities...
Is LiDAR Disruptive Technology?
By Patrick Cunningham, president, Blue Marble Geographics (www.bluemarblegeo.com), Hallowell, Maine. The use of light detection and ranging (LiDAR) data has taken center stage in geospatial technology during the last few years. LiDAR data collection hardware vendors...
Moving from Traditional GIS to Web GIS
By Jack Dangermond, founder and president of Esri (www.esri.com), Redlands, Calif. Today, our world is facing serious challenges on many fronts. It’s becoming clear we need to collectively work to create a better future. This means leveraging our best design talent,...
Striking a Passionate Chord for Nature
Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, Nothing is going to get better. It’s not....
NGA Responds to Colorado Floods
By Tim Little, Office of Corporate Communications, National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (www.nga.mil), Bethesda, Md. When floods devastated parts of Colorado in September 2013, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the lead federal agency for Colorado...