I n his book “Winning Modern Wars,†retired U.S. Army General Wesley Clark writes, “Defeating terrorism is more difficult and far-reaching than we have assumed. ... We may be advancing the ball down the field at will, running over our opponent’s defenses, but...
Can Increasing Orbital Debris Hazards Ground LEO Satellites?
By Philip Hattis, Ph.D., laboratory technical staff, Draper Laboratory (www.draper.com), Cambridge, Mass. Imagine a world where low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite functions such as hurricane tracking, climate change and natural disaster monitoring or arms...
U.S. Budget Battle Has Far-Reaching Consequences for Geospatial Industry
By Kevin D. Pomfret, executive director, Centre for Spatial Law and Policy (www.spatiallaw.com), Richmond, Va. The defense industry has known since last year that the Department of Defense would need to make cutbacks. With deficits and debt becoming increasing...
NASA Releases First Global VIIRS Image
From its vantage 824 kilometers (512 miles) above Earth, the Visible Infrared Imager Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) on the NPOESS Preparatory Project (NPP) satellite gets a complete view of our planet every day. This image from Nov. 24, 2011, is the first complete global...
Industry Updates Jan-Feb 2012
 ASPRS Approves LAS 1.4 Specification The American Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing (ASPRS) board of directors approved LAS 1.4, a new release of the open file format for light detection and ranging (LiDAR) data storage and delivery. ASPRS has been...
Oblique Imagery Offers Powerful Tools for Geospatial Analysis
Geospatial data users are leveraging oblique imagery for a range of innovative applications. By Art Kalinski, GISP, former GISÂ manager for the Atlanta Regional Commission and geospatial military projects consultant, including consulting for Pictometry International...
Taking Operation IceBridge to the Next Level
NASA’s annual Antarctic mission yields record results as researchers dig deeper into a host of factors that impact global warming. By Holli Riebeek, NASA Earth Observatory (http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov), Greenbelt, Md. Additional IceBridge information is ...
Understanding the Benefits of LiDAR Data
How can utilities maximize 3-D modeling? Electrical utilities worldwide are faced with aging and overloaded transmission lines. But with the challenges of acquiring permits and approvals to construct new lines, many utilities concentrate on rating and up-rating...
LiDAR Supports Advanced Geospatial Analysis
Fusing LiDAR’s 3-D feature and elevation data with geospatialimagery creates powerful and accurate mapping applications. By Cherie Darnel, senior technical solutions engineer, Exelis Visual Information Solutions (www.exelisvis.com), Boulder, Colo. Light detection...
What to Watch in 2012
We’re pleased to present our annual State of the Industry report. Once again, our Editorial Advisory Board members have done a great job of identifying the most significant forces impacting the remote sensing industry, as well as key challenges and potential...
