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Analyze Earth ChangeEsri provides you with fast and easy access to multispectral,multitemporal worldwide Landsat GLS data through freeonline image services. Our ArcGIS © technology simplifiesimage management and dissemination workflows, usingon-the-fly processing and dynamic mosaicking.202imaging notes // summer 2011 // www.imagingnotes.comLearn more at esri.com/imgnoteslandsatCopyright © 2011 Esri. All rights reserved. Imagery courtesy of GeoEye and DigitalGlobe.

Summer 2011contents28> > Departments69Secure WorldFoundation ForumOrbital DebrisMitigationGuest EditorialTim Brown ofGlobalSecurity.orgDebates Value ofSatellites forHuman Rights> > Features1417Google Earth BuilderAdvantages forBusinessesBy Matteo LuccioSolar Map FocusInfusions ofRegional DataBy Matthew Krusemark, DenverRegional Council of Governments22 CratersSatellites UnearthMissing RecordsBy Leonard David28 Observing aVolatile EarthThe Latest inImagery AnalysisBy Karen Richardson, Esri> > Advertorial33Esri BusinessPartner SectionFeaturing PCI Geomatics,Topcon PositioningSystems, and OcéNorth America226imaging notes // Summer 2011 // www.imagingnotes.com3

Orbital Debris Mitigation StrategiesCollisions Increase; Explosions DecreaseSecure World Foundation ForumGiven hypervelocity speeds in space,even the most minuscule of rubbish couldcreate havoc on impact with a functioningsatellite.The Earth is encircled with human-made orbitalflotsam. Space junk comes in all shapes and sizes, such as abandoned satellitesand leftover booster stages.Discarded space hardware includes a variety of launch vehicle upper stages, left onorbit after they are spent. Add to this mix abandoned spacecraft that are no longer functioning.Toss in for good measure separation bolts, lens caps, momentum flywheels, nuclearreactor cores, clamp bands, auxiliary motors, launch vehicle fairings, and adapter shrouds.As of today, on-orbit explosionshave been the primary source of debris.Explosions can occur when propellantand oxidizer inadvertently mix, residualpropellant becomes over-pressurized dueto heating, or batteries become overpressurized.See Figure 1.What’s Passivation?While the threat of orbital debris tooperating spacecraft is very real, there areencouraging steps being taken by manyspacefaring companies and countries. For By Leonard DavidResearch AssociateSecure World Foundationwww.secureworldfoundation.orgexample, deployment procedures can bedesigned to prevent ejection of objects. Tetheredlens caps and bolt catchers for explosivebolts are examples of preventive design.To avert explosions, space hardware thatstores energy can be passivated at the endof its useful life. Passivation is a practice ofridding a spent rocket stage of any residualstored energy left on-board, typically takingthe form of venting leftover propellants orpressurants, or controlled discharging of anybatteries or momentum wheels.According to The Aerospace Corporation’sCenter for Orbital and ReentryDebris Studies, “As the debris mitigationmeasure of passivation becomes morecommonly practiced, it is expected thatexplosions will decrease in frequency. Itmay take a few decades for the practiceto become implemented widely enough toreduce the explosion rate, which currentlystands at about four per year.”Lengthy HistoryUnderscored in a report issued earlierthis year by the U.S. Defense AdvancedResearch Projects Agency (DARPA),there is a lengthy history of trying to curborbital debris. As pointed out in DARPA’sCatcher’s Mitt Final Report, to helpcontrol the future growth of orbital debris,most spacefaring nations have adoptedmeasures to limit the creation of neworbital debris.In 1995 NASA was the first spaceagency in the world to issue a comprehensiveset of orbital debris mitigation guidelines.Two years later, the U.S. Governmentdeveloped a set of Orbital DebrisMitigation Standard Practices based onthe NASA guidelines. Other countries andorganizations, including Japan, France,Russia, and the European Space Agency(ESA) have followed suit with their ownorbital debris mitigation guidelines.In 2002, after a multi-year effort, theInter-Agency Space Debris CoordinationCommittee (IADC), comprised of thespace agencies of 10 countries as wellas ESA, adopted a consensus set ofguidelines designed to mitigate the growthof the orbital debris population.In February 2007, the Scientific andTechnical Subcommittee of the UnitedNations’ Committee on the Peaceful Usesof Outer Space (COPUOS) completed amulti-year work plan with the adoption of aconsensus set of Space Debris MitigationGuidelines very similar to the IADC guidelines.The guidelines were accepted by theCOPUOS in June 2007 and endorsed bythe United Nations in January 2008.Currently accepted mitigationmeasures include limiting the use ofexplosive bolts and other disposabledeployment mechanisms, limiting orbitallifetimes of retired payloads and spentrocket bodies to 25 years, and ventingunused propellant at the end of operations.While the United Nations 2008 Reporton Space Debris discusses these guidelines’contribution to a slower growth inthe space debris population, “these effortshave only slowed the overall growth in theamount of space debris, not halted it,” theDARPA report states. “To date, on-orbitexplosions have been the primary sourceof debris. Nevertheless, collisions areexpected to be the leading source within6imaging notes // summer 2011 // www.imagingnotes.com

debris from a launcher perspective:1›› passivate the orbital stages;›› leave low Earth orbit stages in shortlivedorbits, e.g., orbits from which theywill re-enter within 25 years.SS Figure 1. Upper stage rocket explodes,spewing out chunks of debris. Credit:European Space Agency.the next few decades.”In June of last year, the Obama administrationissued a National Space Policy thatamong many other things requires the UnitedStates to “lead the continued developmentand adoption of international and industrystandards and policies to minimize debris,such as the United Nations Space DebrisMitigation Guidelines … pursue researchand development of technologies and techniques,through the Administrator of NASAand the Secretary of Defense, mitigate andremove on-orbit debris, reduce hazards, andincrease understanding of the current andfuture debris environment.”The French ConnectionDutifully aware of the menacing problemof orbital debris – and not contributing to analready cluttered situation – is French launchprovider, Arianespace. It was founded in1980 as the world’s first satellite launchcompany. Since its creation, the enterprisehas chalked up a notable roster of boostingspacecraft for a variety of nations.The spaceport used by Arianespace –also known as the Guiana Space Center– is a strategically-located facility in FrenchGuiana. That locale makes it ideally situatedfor missions into geostationary orbit. Thetechnical performance of its launch vehiclesand a substantial order book have madeArianespace the world leader in satellitelaunch services for the last few years, with amarket share exceeding 60 percent.“Arianespace takes the issue of orbitaldebris mitigation seriously and activelyworks with the French Government toensure that our launch systems respectinternational agreements whose goal isto reduce space debris,” said ClaytonMowry, President of Arianespace, Inc., withresponsibility for managing Arianespace’scustomer, industry and governmental relationsat the company’s U.S. affiliate.Mowry told Imaging Notes that underthe French Space Operation Act andpolicy, Arianespace authorization toproceed for each mission and with eachlaunch system is associated with missionoptimization strategies that take intoaccount debris mitigation planning.The latest version of the Ariane 5booster is called the Ariane 5 ECA, forCryogenic Evolution type A. This powerfullaunch system is qualified to use thepropellant tanks’ residual pressure andaltitude control systems to lower theupper stage apogee altitude prior to afinal passivation procedure, Mowry noted.“This practice prevents the upper stagefrom crossing into the geostationary regionpopulated by communications satellites.”Nicholas Johnson, chief scientist forOrbital Debris at the NASA Johnson SpaceCenter in Houston, Texas flags the mostimportant actions to mitigate the growth of“Both of these actions are recommendedby the IADC and the UN. Somelaunch service providers do a good job inboth areas; some do not,” Johnson toldImaging Notes.Johnson spotlighted the recent Junelaunch of Aquarius SAC-D. The Aquariusmission is the first satellite missionspecifically designed to provide monthlyglobal measurements of how sea watersalinity varies at the ocean surface, and wasdeveloped in an international partnershipwith Argentina’s space agency, ComisiónNacional de Actividades Espaciales. “Forthe SAC-D mission, the Delta 2 secondstage performed a depletion maneuver thatmoved the stage from an orbit with a lifetimeof more than 20 years to one with a lifetimeof only a month or two,” Johnson said.The primary focus of the Secure WorldFoundation is on space sustainability – theability of all humanity to continue to useouter space for peaceful purposes andsocioeconomic benefit over the long term.Indeed, unsafe or irresponsible actionsby one actor can have long-term adverseconsequences for all.Given the growth of using outer spaceby an increasing number of governmentaland non-governmental actors, steps todeal with the worrisome issue of orbitaldebris – today and into the future – arewelcome news. That being said, thereare many more steps that must be takento tackle this environmental problem ofhumankind’s own making.imaging notes // Summer 2011 // www.imagingnotes.com7

OCT. 16-19San Antonio, TexasRegister NOWand SAVE!http://geoint2011.com/registrationThe eighth annual GEOINT Symposium returns to San Antonio!The United States Geospatial Intelligence Foundation invites you to theHenry B. Gonzalez Convention Center in one of the GEOINT Symposium’sfavorite cities, San Antonio, TX, for GEOINT 2011. The GEOINT Symposium willcapture your interest with intriguing keynotes, panels and breakout tracksfrom the Defense, Intelligence and Homeland Security Communities’ mostprominent leaders. In the 100,000-square foot exhibit hall attendees andexhibitors alike can learn about current trends and innovations. GEOINT 2011also promises invaluable networking opportunities throughout theday and during evening reception events. Mark your calendar forOct. 16-19 because you won’t want to miss out on this must-attend event.Attend GEOINT 2011 and hear from these Community leaders …Gen. Keith B. Alexander, U.S. ArmyCommander, U.S. Cyber CommandDirector, National Security AgencyMs. Letitia A. LongDirector, National Geospatial-Intelligence AgencyMr. Bruce CarlsonDirector, National Reconnaissance OfficeThe Honorable Michael G. “Mike” VickersUnder Secretary of Defense for IntelligenceThe Honorable James R. Clapper Jr.Director of National IntelligenceAdm. James A. “Sandy” Winnefeld Jr., U.S. NavyCommander, North American Aerospace Defense CommandCommander, United States Northern Command8Gen. Douglas Fraser, U.S. Air ForceCommander, U.S. Southern CommandGen. C. Robert “Bob” Kehler, U.S. Air ForceCommander, U.S. Strategic CommandCongressman Mike RogersMichigan, 8th DistrictCongressmanC.A. Dutch RuppersbergerMaryland, 2nd DistrictRep. Rogers, Chairman,HPSCI, and Rep.Ruppersberger, RankingMember, HPSCI, will providea joint keynote. Don’t missthis opportunity to see twokey decision-makers sharetheir knowledge.imaging notes // summer 2010 // www.imagingnotes.comWhere Our National Security Begins…@GEOINTSymposiumwww.geoint2011.comSee highlights from GEOINT 2010 at www.geointv.com

Satellites for Human RightsCan They Stop Genocide?Guest Editorial by Tim BroWNSenior FellowWashington, D.C.www.globalsecurity.orgIn 2004, the U.S. Agency for InternationalDevelopment (USAID), underthe auspices of the Department of State,purchased commercial satellite imagery todocument and to show the scale of violencetaking place in the Darfur region of southernSudan. The Amnesty International projectEyes on Darfur (www.eyesondarfur.org)attempted to monitor the violence in Darfur,as well, in 2007. In May 2006, the AmericanAssociation for the Advancement of Science(AAAS) released a study using commercialsatellite imagery showing destroyed villagesin Zimbabwe. See Figures 1-2. Five yearslater, President Robert Gabriel Mugabe isstill in power.“Only the dead have seen the end of war.” – PlatoThe Satellite Sentinel Project is the latest example of how the powerful toolof commercial satellite imagery, and the analysis that goes with it, can be used(www.satsentinel.org). Previous efforts to use high-resolution, space-based imagery toraise awareness and document war crimes, while admirable, have yielded mixed results.Overhead imagery in 1995 showing mass graves in Bosnia did little to stop the“ethnic cleansing” as it was taking place. Madeleine Albright, then Secretary of State,even showed at a hearing on Capitol Hill declassified photos of the disturbed earth innorthern Bosnia that provided evidence of mass graves outside the one U.N.-protectedenclave of Srebrenica. In the end, the U.S. and the European Community did notintervene until an estimated 200,000 people were killed – 8,000 in Srebrenica alone.In 2004, there was hesitancy in theU.S. even to use the word ‘genocide’ inreference to Sudan, as that word carriedwith it a legal requirement for governmentaland moral action. Yet the word was used todescribe what was going on in Darfur, andthere was no real action. Four years later in2009-10, the International Criminal Courtissued the warrant for the arrest of SudanesePresident Ahmad al Bashir on tencounts — for torture, rape, crimes againsthumanity, war crimes, and genocide. Yeteven today he is still in power.If the recent arrest of the formerYugoslav military commander RatkoMladic is any indication, it can take sometime to bring perpetrators of war crimesto justice. It was 16 years before Mladic,who orchestrated the slaughter of the8,000 Muslims in Srebrenica, was caught.His lawyers are fighting on the groundsthat he is too weak with a medicalcondition for trial. It may be years beforethe current perpetrators of war crimesand genocide in Sudan are captured andbrought to justice, if indeed they ever are.If anything can be deduced from thecivil war and “ethnic cleansing” carriedout against Muslim minorities of Bosniaand Kosovo by the Yugoslav leaders in the1990s, it would be that there was a wholebody of collateral information that crimesagainst humanity and genocide were takingplace, yet the ability to detect and characterizethose activities was not sufficient tomove Europe and the West to act.There are limits to what this technologycan do. Hollywood has created unrealisticexpectations among the public, policymakers and celebrities. The public has beenfascinated ever since the words ‘spy satellite’were first uttered in 1968 in the movieIce Station Zebra, starring Rock Hudson.Since then, overhead imaging capabilitieshave been wildly exaggerated, especially inthe movie Enemy of the State in 1998.A Brief History LessonIn 1979, famed CIA imagery analystDino Brugioni revealed the existence ofaerial imagery of the Auschwitz deathcamp, accidentally captured on aerial strikecamera film from allied bombers attackingthe nearby I.G. Farben Plant, over thirtyyears earlier (see Figure 3). Since the 1979article, there has grown an expectationthat overhead imagery can be used todetect war crimes, and once detected, thewar crimes will stop or be forced to stop,or at least the imagery could be used aspart of the body of evidence to bring theperpetrators to justice.During the Cuban Missile Crisis of1962, Adlai Stevenson, U.S. Ambassadorto the United Nations, faced off againsthis counterpart, Soviet representativeValerian Zorin in the Security Council,over the issue of the introduction ofoffensive ballistic missiles in Cuba. Aerialimagery depicting the construction ofEditor’s Notes: This editorial is in response to the article, “Satellite Sentinel Project” from theSpring 2011 issue. Tim Brown is an imagery analyst and Senior Fellow at Globalsecurity.org. Theopinions expressed here are solely his own. This information is accurate as of the date of thiswriting, June 9, 2011. Also see editorial by Dino Brugioni in the Spring 2007 issue, and the featureabout human rights issues in Zimbabwe and Sudan in Summer 2007. These can easily be foundby keyword search at www.imagingnotes.com/archive.imaging notes // Summer 2011 // www.imagingnotes.com9

2Guest Editorial1WWFigure 1. Porta Farm, Zimbabwe before the area wasdemolished, taken June 22, 2002. Images are part of a AAASreport that was previously published in the Summer 2007 issueof Imaging Notes, and are courtesy of DigitalGlobe.SS Figure 2. Porta Farm image after destruction, taken April 6,2006. Image courtesy of DigitalGlobe.offensive ballistic missile bases wasshown, to counter Soviet denials aboutthe deployment. In the end, the U.S.imposed a “quarantine” – essentially amilitary blockade – of the island. TheSoviets backed down, and the missileswere withdrawn. Overhead imagery, itseemed, won the day, forcing the Sovietsto withdraw.It did not hurt that the U.S. had anoverwhelming nuclear superiority, or thatthere were conventional forces ready tostrike Cuba militarily, with an invasion forceof U.S. troops standing by, or that a fleetof U.S. naval vessels were ready to sinkSoviet merchant vessels bound for Cuba.In addition, President Kennedy secretlyagreed to withdraw the U.S. medium-rangeballistic missile from Turkey. So it was thethreat of the use of force, along with covertnegotiations, that ultimately caused theSoviets to change their minds. The overheadimagery was useful but not critical.Setbacks in the Use of ImageryThe Cuban Missile Crisis was the highpoint in which overhead (aerial) imagerywas credibly used to prove a point inforeign relations, and a high point as wellin U.S. international credibility. Sincethen, using imagery has gradually lost itseffectiveness.In 1983, President Reagan displayedaerial imagery of military arms shipmentsand deployments in Nicaragua and Cubato boost public support for the “Contras”and the overthrow of the Sandinista regimein Managua. The military buildup was nonnuclearin nature and not capable of directlythreatening the United States.A more recent example is when, in2003, Secretary of State Colin Powell10imaging notes // summer 2011 // www.imagingnotes.com

displayed a simulated vial ofanthrax, and showed overheadimagery of activity suggestingongoing Iraqi chemical andbiological weapons activity.It later turned out that Iraqhad neither a chemical nor abiological weapons program.The single Iraqi source codenamed“Curveball” fabricatedhis story to West Germanintelligence in hopes that theU.S. would invade Iraq 1 . Theimagery and Powell’s personalcredibility helped convinceskeptics that a second Iraqi warwas justified.Increased use of this type of“brief occasion of amazement,”as Carl Sagan said, combinedwith the increased cynicism ofAmericans and other people ofthe world, has dulled overheadimagery’s usefulness over time.SummaryHow much evidence isrequired to detect and demonstrateviolence in significantenough levels to cause theInternational Community andthe United Nations to act?High-resolution overheadimagery is best used to detect,identify, and characterize activity in deniedaccessareas. Since there is an abundanceof ”ground truth” of what is going on inSudan, from journalists and non-governmentalaid and human rights organizationsshowing dead bodies, burned villages, andpeople suffering in refugee camps, satelliteimagery can do little more than provide acontext to the imagery that is hard to get2SS Figure 2. Aerial reconnaissance imagery of Auschwitzshowing the gas chambers and crematorium revealed in1979, courtesy of National Archives, via Dino Brugioni.from the ground. Overhead imagery alonedoes not seem to move public opinion, nordoes it cause the perpetrators to stop, northe International Community and the UnitedNations to act.The fundamental question is whetherdocumenting ongoing war crimes andgenocide for later use in court has anyeffect on the behavior of perpetrators. Sofar, it doesn’t seem to.Deterring killing and genocide in thedisputed regions of Sudan is a noble cause,but it is a daunting task to dedicate satelliteimagery collection time to monitor an arealarger than the state of Texas. At a speedof four miles per second, these satellitesare pre-programmed to point and click atareas already identified by people on theground reporting killing. Instead of satellitesdiscovering new knowledge, they are moreoften than not used to illustrate what isalready known.Persistent staring (observation) fromimaging notes // Summer 2011 // www.imagingnotes.com11

Guest EditorialThe fundamental questionis whetherdocumentingongoing warcrimes andgenocide forlater use in courthas any effecton the behaviorof perpetrators.So far, it doesn’tseem to.a variety of platforms such as commercialhigh-resolution imaging satellites, aerostatballoons, and unmanned drones is usefulonly with “boots on the ground.” InternationalPeacekeepers are needed, with amandate to protect life and property andto stop the violence. The Satellite SentinelProject as currently envisioned does nothave boots on the ground to go with it.The goal of documenting violence, warcrimes and genocide to prosecute is moreattainable. This action is akin to crimescene investigators who show up aftera murder has been committed to collectevidence and create a documentarychain of evidence to be used later in atrial. Using satellite imagery and analysisto document war crimes presumes thatsome of the perpetrators will be caughtand brought to justice.George Clooney and other celebritieshave lent their good names and money toraise international awareness about thekilling going on in Sudan 2 . Mr. Clooneyhas actually been to refugee camps onthe borders of Sudan enough times thathis trips cannot be dismissed as merephoto-ops. He has provided substantialfinancial support and personal commitmentto the Satellite Sentinel Project and has thesupport of other celebrities.The satellite company DigitalGlobe hasmade available to the effort its constellationof high-resolution imaging satellites.Harvard University’s Humanitarian Initiative,the groups Not On Our Watch and EnoughProject, co-founded by John Prendergast,along with Amnesty International, scholars,organizers, and activists, have made theviolence, war crimes and genocide inSudan hard to ignore. The United NationsHigh Commissioner for Refugees andthe United Nations UNITAR OperationalSatellite Applications Program (UNOSAT),along with the International Criminal Court,which has handed down indictments, allsend a strong message that war crimes andgenocide in Sudan will not go unnoticed,and hopefully not unpunished.The question is whether Mr. Clooney,the satellite companies, prosecutors,scholars, and human rights activists canraise public awareness to a sufficient levelto pressure the U.S., the West, and theInternational Community to act in time tostop more violence in Sudan, or at leastnot to interfere in a U.N.-mandated peaceenforcement. The answer lies in a highlycomplex international process requiringcooperation and commitment that, at thispoint, have not been possible.Part of that complexity is that theSudanese ethnic minorities occupy landwhere the government wants to drill oil tosell to countries like China. The currentSudanese government does not wantto share profits with Southern Sudan,though they will have to, once the south isindependent. Also, China holds a seat onthe U.N. Security Council, and could vetoany vote to send in troops.In its present form, the SatelliteSentinel Project can actually do little todeter violence or stop aggression. To dothat, governments, not satellite companiesand celebrities, must act by putting troopson the ground and using force if necessaryto stop the actions and deter furtherviolence. Satellites watching genocidebeing committed and reporting after thefact is a relatively inexpensive proposition,but may also be ineffective. Whetherthe Satellite Sentinel Project can raiseenough awareness to cause governmentsto act is an open question.FootnoteS1. Normally, intelligence agencies prefer to rely on multiple sources of information beforethey are willing to write “finished intelligence.” U.S. intelligence agencies had noopportunity to interview the Iraqi source, had no collateral information and found hisclaims unreliable. Secretary of State Colin Powell went out of his way to ensure that theinformation he was given was accurate. Yet he was not careful enough. Had he knownabout the CIA doubts or the fact that agency personnel did not have a chance to interview“Curveball,” he no doubt would have left that material out of his U.N. presentation.2. The group Not On Our Watch was founded by Don Cheadle, George Clooney, Matt Damon,Brad Pitt, David Pressman, and Jerry Weintraub.12imaging notes // summer 2011 // www.imagingnotes.com

July 24-29, 2011, Vancouver, CanadaBeyond the Frontiers: Expanding our Knowledge of the WorldWelcome!Because of the March earthquake and tsunami disaster in Japan, theGeoscience and Remote Sensing Society (GRSS) and the IGARSS 2011team jointly decided to move IGARSS 2011 to Vancouver, Canada.Please join us at the Vancouver Convention Center July 25 - July 29 forIGARSS 2011. Check our website (www.igarss11.org) for up-to-dateinformation on the technical program, the venue, hotels, and the socialprogram.We look forward to welcoming you in Vancouver!Jon Atli BenediktssonPresident, IEEE GRSSMotoyuki SatoGeneral Chair, IGARSS 2011imaging notes // Summer 2011 // www.imagingnotes.com13Photo Credits:Tourism VancouverCapilano Suspension BridgeTourism Vancouver / Tom RyanVancouver

Google Earth, launched six years ago, expanded by ordersof magnitude the market for geospatial technologies. The initial 3D viewerwas supplemented over time by driving directions, sky and flight simulatormodes, street view, bathymetry, historical imagery, and other features. It evolvedinto a full-fledged enterprise mapping and GIS platform and was widely adoptedacross the geosciences and other scientific disciplines, as well as for a variety ofbusiness and government applications.Now Google is productizing the processing infrastructure it has developed forGoogle Earth and Google Maps, together with the power of its massive serverfarms, by launching Google Earth Builder. The new platform, which it announcedat the Where 2.0 conference in April and has scheduled for release in Q3 of thisyear, will make Google’s back-end geospatial capabilities available to enterpriseusers – business customers.1 by Matteo LuccioWriterPortland, Ore.www.palebluedotllc.com Editor’s Note: Imaging Notes regularlyasks image processing companies toshare their most up-to-date offerings, asyou see here, as Esri does on page 28, andas Hexagon/ERDAS did in the Spring 2011issue. More to come!What It Is and What It DoesGoogle Earth Builder is a cloudcomputingplatform that enables organizationsto upload and manage all theirSS Figure 1. Thumbnail view of uploadedmapping data in a Google Earth Builderaccountgeospatial data, create custom layers, and share them with staff to view on GoogleEarth and Google Maps. According to Google, the application will support spikes inuser traffic — such as during a disaster response — and significantly reduce IT costs,by automatically scaling as needed and updating software and servers. “Google’s cloudscales to handle different scenarios and lets organizations focus more on buildingmaps and less on managing on-premise hardware,” says Dylan Lorimer, Google EarthBuilder’s product manager.The platform will also enable organizations to set attribution on custom maplayers and share access to the data without sharing the raw data files. It will letthem process and publish large geospatial data files, access Google’s extensivebasemap of imagery, roads, and points of interest, and create custom map layersfor Google Earth and Google Maps. As one would expect from a Google product,Google Earth Builder also provides users with a lot of metrics as to who is viewingtheir data.Google Earth Builder will enable users to view maps from desktop and mobile platforms,share them with individuals and groups, and visually analyze geospatial datawithout requiring GIS training. In most cases, however, for the foreseeable future,Google Earth Builder will store and catalog geospatial data files (shapefiles, TAB, Mr.SID, JPG2000, TIFF, KML, etc.) that were created using Esri GIS software. Users upload14imaging notes // summer 2011 // www.imagingnotes.com

the files via a catalog interface, whichallows them to enter layer names, attribution,tags, source, and other metadata.The application automatically extractsthis metadata and indexes the files forquick search. Users can upload raw satelliteimagery and perform masking, edgematching, some color balancing, and“feathering” of the tiles in order to createa seamless image map. “The user doesn’thave to make many decisions, but thereare a few knobs and dials,” says Lorimer.The application also supports vectordata and allows users to create andmanipulate map layers and style themdynamically to create thematic maps.“We create a spatial table in the cloud,which we manage,” Lorimer says. “Youcan define a style to create attributes andspecify levels of details and cartographicrules. Maps can be rendered on the fly, ineither a KLM layer or as raster tiles to bedisplayed on top of Google Maps. Usersdefine one or more styles and marry themwith the vectors. For example, you mightdisplay parcels for Montana in differentways on a Web site or on a tablet.”Google Earth Builder allows users topublish their data in three ways: directlyto a Google Earth client, through WebMap Services (WMS), and in GoogleEarth and Google Maps API for developersto access. As Google continuesto increase its investments in geospatialtechnology — for example, through itsGoogle Earth Engine image classificationproject — it will probably makemore of it available through GoogleEarth Builder.Pricing StructureGoogle’s announcement of GoogleEarth Builder focused on two initialclients, both of which are very large organizations:Ergon Energy, a utility companyowned by the government of the Australianstate of Queensland, and the U.S.National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency(NGA). “However, the cloud scales,”says Lorimer. “If we did our job right, theproduct will suit the needs of the smallestto the largest organizations.” Regardingthe pricing structure, he explains GoogleMaps Premier starts at $20,000 when youbundle vector data storage. “Google EarthBuilder will start at a slightly higher pricepoint, but will include more storage andpage-view quota,” he says. It will be basedon the quantity of data plus the amountof map consumption — for example,whether the maps are only for internal useor embedded on Web sites. “As we lookto productize more of our technology, forexample 3D models, we have to figure outhow it fits into our pricing model.”By launching Google Earth Builder,Lorimer says, Google is making iteasier for organizations to build andpublish maps as well as productizingits core competencies, in response topersistent requests from its customersto make the mapping infrastructure ithas built available to them. “It has beenfairly difficult for organizations to buildmaps,” he says. “They have neededcomplicated, on-premise solutions. Wewant to make it easy for them. We hopethat organizations that are starting willconsider using the cloud for mapping.The mission of Google Earth Builderis to take the innovation we have builtinto our consumer products and makeit available to businesses.”Google will provide both standardand premium support to users of GoogleEarth Builder through its Google Enterpriseprogram, as well as online documentationand contextual help, codesnippets and examples, a user group,and two yearly user conferences.Quality Control and ImprovementsTo help ensure the quality of the datauploaded, the data catalog is accesscontrolled.Google then performs somelimited quality control. “We strive to dothe heavy lifting, but are not trying to fixyour data,” Lorimer says. “We will notrectify or fix data, but we will notify ourusers of any errors we see.” Publishinghas a completely separate set of accesscontrols.Cloud technology will allow Googleto quickly share improvements with allusers of Google Earth Builder. “We canhear from a customer about a featurerequest and we can implement it andmake the innovation available almostat the speed of browser refresh,” saysLorimer.Image Processing and SpatialAnalysisOne of the data pipelines that is availableat the push of a button, Lorimerexplains, is massive image processing,whether one image or thousands, gigabytes2SS Figure 2. Blended imagery tiles processed by GoogleEarth Builder and shown in the Google Earth Pluginor petabytes. “As a user, you can get accessto Google’s infrastructure of thousands ofmachines, with no set-up required. We willhave customers that will have a tremendousamount of imagery; they will notneed to provision any additional hardware;it will scale automatically.” However, it isnot clear whether this will speed up imageprocessing, compared to software andservices that are already available.For most users, Google Earth Builderwill not replace GIS any time soon, dueto its limited ability to perform spatialanalysis and geoprocessing. “Right now,we are not exposing any standard vectoranalytical operations beyond spatiallyconstrained search,” says Lorimer. “Wewant to provide all the useful mechanismsyou may need to access and make use ofyour data. The goal is to expose all of ourinfrastructure for enterprise use.”imaging notes // Summer 2011 // www.imagingnotes.com15

The NGA’s Adoption of Google EarthBuilderThe NGA contract with Google is oneof the first major government geospatialcloud initiatives. For four years, the NGAhas been using Google Earth Enterprise tobuild globes and related products, undera program called GEOINT VisualizationServices (GVS), according to DanielVernon, a technical executive with theagency’s Acquisition Engineering Office.GVS operates on three of the networklevels the NGA supports, he explains.The Joint Chiefs of Staff asked the NGAto expand GVS to an enterprise-levelsolution, called Geospatial Visualization- Enterprise Services (GV-ES). “WithGV-ES and the ever-increasing volume ofusers that can consume Open GeospatialConsortium-compliant Web servicessuch as WMS and WMTS, and be ableto export the products produced withGoogle Earth Builder for use on the classifiednetworks.”“Google Earth Builder is one of thecore elements of the GV-ES architecture,”Vernon explains, “and allows the NGAto produce globes and services at a muchfaster, more time-relevant rate. In additionto the NGA geospatial analysts, our partnersalso benefit from our provisioning ofglobes, maps, and OGC services to includeorganizations that provide humanitarianassistance, disaster response and relief, aswell as federal, Department of Defense,and intelligence agencies.”34raster and vector data,” says Vernon, “theNGA needs greater capacity now and inthe future to build and provision globesand related products. We have reachedthe limits of what we can do to build 2Dand 3D products using the Google EarthEnterprise software we presently use.”Such visualization and ease of access is inalignment with NGA Director Tish Long’svision for the agency.“In addition,” Vernon continues,“while the NGA has been servingcustomers on the classified networks, wehave the increasing need to provide thissame capability on unclassified networks.We therefore began using Google EarthBuilder to build, provision, and serveproducts that will support Google Earth,Google Maps, and Google Earth plug-inusers. The NGA will also be able to serveSS Figures 3-4. Dynamically rendered vector tiles streamed by Google Earth Builder and shownon Google Maps. Figure 3 is Portland, Oregon. Figure 4 shows Europe.“Once our customers start usingthe product and services the NGA willprovide from Google Earth Builder,”Vernon concludes, “it will be theircomments to NGA that will most influencewhere we go with this capability.Our customers have shown a lot ofimagination in using the capabilities wehave offered thus far under GVS, whichwill continue to expand under GV-ES.”BenefitsPerhaps the biggest beneficiariesof Google Earth Builder will be stateand local governments, who will saveconsiderably on storing the massiveamounts of imagery that they areacquiring through digital aerial photographyby replacing on-premise serverswith Google’s cloud. In addition, itwill allow them to push their data tothis platform while keeping it publiclyopen, rather than waiting for Google toupdate its data.Google Earth Builder’s limited analyticalcapabilities do not make it a substitutefor GIS for any organization thatrequires complex geographical analysis.Nor will its floor pricing make it affordablefor small businesses. Perhaps a goodprivate sector candidate for adoptingGoogle Earth Builder would be a realestate developer who needs to store andmanage large amounts of aerial photographyand use it to create simple mapsfor use in assessing the suitability of sitesfor various uses. Google Earth Builderwould save the company on the cost oftraining its staff in GIS and in buyingand maintaining large servers on whichto store the imagery.Google Earth Builder will also givegovernments and companies access tothe massive amount of data Google hasalready collected for Google Maps andGoogle Earth (including 3D images oflandscapes), let them combine it withtheir own data, and allow them topublish it in an interface now familiarto millions of people.16imaging notes // summer 2011 // www.imagingnotes.com

Infusions of Regional DataThe Denver Regional SolarMap is a Web-based applicationthe Denver Regional Council ofGovernments (DRCOG) developed withfunding from a New Energy EconomicDevelopment grant through the ColoradoGovernor’s Energy Office. DRCOG begandeveloping the site in March 2010 andlaunched in November 2010. The applicationlets users easily locate their propertiesand explore the benefits of solar photovoltaic(PV) installation through a simpleaddress search for their buildings.In addition, it allows local solarinstallers in the Denver region loginaccess to respond to consumer inquiries.DRCOG’s initial hopes were that theproject would not only bolster adoption ofrenewable energy in the Denver region, butalso create jobs by connecting local solarproviders and contractors with buildingowners. Installers have been actively usingthe site to respond to consumer inquiries.Importance of Regional DataCollaborationThe Denver metropolitan area encompassesover 5,000 square miles making it a challenge to findcontiguous, detailed geospatial data to support the solar mapneeds (see Figure 1). In order to accurately calculate solar PVpotential for buildings in the region, DRCOG needed severalkey datasets to support the application, including digitalorthophotography for feature and building identification,LiDAR to quickly identify rooftop obstructions on buildingsthat would potentially inhibit solar PV panel placement,and building footprints where LiDAR information might notexist.DRCOG has a long history of collaboration that includes56 member governments (local municipalities and counties)and other regional, state and federal agency partners in theregion. One area of collaboration in the last decade has beenin the development of regional geospatial data to supportSS Figure 1. DRCOG’s map of the Denver region shows DRAPP area and LiDAR coverage.By Matthew Krusemark, GISpInformation Services ManagerDenver Regional Council of GovernmentsDenver, Colo.www.drcog.govEditor’s Note A feature article about Democratic NationalConvention security, by the same author from DRCOG, appeared inthe Spring 2009 issue of Imaging Notes.imaging notes // Summer 2011 // www.imagingnotes.com17

long-range planning and current and future transportationinvestments. The Denver Regional Aerial PhotographyProject (DRAPP) has become the de facto regional base mapwith which many agency’s spatial data is often referenced,including transportation, property ownership (parcels) andland use/zoning, to name a few.The DRAPP project operates on a two-year cycle and isusually made up of a consortium of 40+ members, makingthe approximately 1 million dollar project affordable toPartnerships and Economies of ScaleDRCOG partnered with Woolpert, Inc. (Dayton, Ohio) todevelop a feature extraction methodology to identify rooftopobstructions to solar PV placement on buildings within theLiDAR project area. Woolpert was able to utilize DRAPPimagery, DNC LiDAR and local agency building footprints tocreate an automated feature extraction process that mappedrooftop obstructions for all 512,000+ buildings.Outside the LiDAR project area, DRCOG developed2 34all the partners involved. In addition to DRAPP, a DenverRegional Data Consortium (DRDC) was founded in 2009to foster regional data development beyond the DRAPPimagery effort that could be used in regional software decision-makingapplications like the Denver Regional SolarMap and others. These additional DRDC-developed datasetsinclude transportation, open space, and the built environment(categories of building types, number of building floorsand addresses, for example).The DRAPP imagery provided the base map for the solarmapping effort. In 2008, LiDAR was collected to supportemergency planning for the Democratic National Convention(DNC, an article about which appeared in the Spring 2009issue of Imaging Notes) through additional partnerships thatincluded local, regional and federal government agencies andmade publicly available after the DNC event by the UnitedStates Geological Survey (USGS) NSDI Partnership Office.DRCOG acquired DRAPP imagery in the spring of 2008. Thesummer 2008 LiDAR acquisition covered the densest portionsof the built environment in the region which is made up of512,000+ buildings. However, the LiDAR acquisition areaonly encompassed approximately 20 percent of the geographicland area of the region making it necessary to reach out tolocal governments to fill in those gaps with building footprintsthey had already developed. The local governments andDRDC partners in the Denver region provided an additional306,000+ building footprints to fill the gaps.in-house algorithms that calculate a more generalized solarestimation for those areas that only had building footprints.In addition, where no building footprints or LiDAR existed,DRCOG utilized its regional parcel inventory of over 1.2million parcels to fill in the gaps and calculate a single andmore generalized solar estimation so that all facilities in theregion would be included.Finally, DRCOG partnered with the Colorado SolarEnergy Industries Association (COSEIA, Boulder, Colo.) andworked even more closely with one of the COSEIA memberswho is a local solar installer to develop region-specific solarpower generation estimates, electric bill savings and an estimateof solar PV system sizing for each building in the database.This was an important partnership that provides SolarMap users with the most accurate solar estimation specific toColorado’s environmental factors.The App FrameworkDRCOG also partnered with a Woolpert software developerto build a customized front end. It was important forDRCOG to utilize a mix of open source and commercial technologiesthat fit the existing DRCOG architecture with whichthe in-house GIS programmers were already familiar, andwould be able to further extend in the future, as needed.DRCOG staff used the Google Maps API (Google, Inc.,Mountain View, Calif.) to allow the app user to geocode theirbusiness or residential address, or zoom around manually tofind a building that they might be interested in (see Figure18imaging notes // summer 2011 // www.imagingnotes.com

2). The Google Maps API was chosen because it is alreadyfamiliar to most Internet users and no training would berequired to learn to geocode an address or use the map tolocate a building. After a building is chosen by the user, awizard is utilized to show the benefits of solar PV installation(see Figures 3 and 4). DRCOG’s open source enterprisespatial database environment is PostGIS (OSGeo Project ofthe OSGeo Foundation, Vancouver, BC, Canada) and thisis where all the building locations (800,000+ records) andThe Benefits and the FutureThe Denver Regional Solar Map has leveraged existingdata and resources in the Denver region from local, regional,state, federal and private partnerships. Acquisition of highresolution digital orthophotography and LiDAR in conjunctionwith the availability of building footprint data hasgreatly benefitted the potential for solar PV installations onbuildings throughout the Denver metropolitan region.The application has created a foundational mapping5WWFigure 2. This is the initial screen that is displayed when a user loads http://solarmap.drcog.org.WWFigure 3. Once a user searches for an address or clicks on a building, the wizardappears. This is the first screen of the wizard, which shows approximate monthlypower generation that the building could potentially produce if a solar system isinstalled.WWFigure 4. The second screen of the wizard displays potential savings based on anestimated solar system size for the building.WWFigure 5. Graphic shows rooftop obstructions that are automatically mappedthrough the feature extraction process.TT Figure 6. Graphic shows rooftop obstructions that solar installers can see for eachbuilding in the back end of the application when they login.rooftop obstruction polygons (2.5+million) are stored for use in theapplication. Woolpert’s softwaredeveloper used the Ruby on Railsframework to make the connectionbetween the Google Maps API clickevents and the PostGIS database.The partnership with COSEIAprovided the solar estimation topopulate the buildings database,and provided DRCOG memberswith a login to the application thatwould allow the solar installers tosee and explore the obstructions that were mapped fromWoolpert’s feature extraction process (see Figures 5 and 6).COSEIA members can create a login to the site and explorethe mapping details of the application that might be toocomplex for the users.DRCOG performed detailed interviews with severalCOSEIA members in gathering requirements for their interfaceand mapping needs. DRCOG GIS programmers thenperformed usability testing with additional COSEIA membersto get their final feedback before deploying the application tothe public. Once a member of the public chooses through theapplication to be “contacted by a local installer,” the recordgoes into a queue where up to five installers can contact andprovide a more detailed building assessment and solar PVestimate for prospective customers.framework that is complex on thebackend for local solar installers toresearch buildings with obstructions,and simple yet powerfulon the front end for the public tolearn more about solar and for thelocal installers to connect directlyto customers.After the first year of use ofthe application by the public andCOSEIA members, DRCOG will be6analyzing and sharing the successesand challenges encountered andthoughts on how the application might be improved for future use.In addition, the application data, database and process that weredeveloped for identifying rooftop obstructions could easily bereprocessed in the future when new DRAPP imagery and LiDARare acquired. This allows the team to leverage the existing methodologyand make improvements to the data behind the applicationwithout a significant additional investment of resources.Additional DRCOG Imagery, Data and Mapping Links>> Denver Regional Solar Map: http://solarmap.drcog.org>> Denver Regional Aerial Photography Project: www.drcog.org/drapp>> Denver Regional Data Consortium: www.drcog.org/drdcimaging notes // Summer 2011 // www.imagingnotes.com19

Dynamic GIS = GIS + Remote20imaging notes // summer 2011 // www.imagingnotes.com

Sensing + PhotogrammetryTranslate change, on the fly, into actionableinformation.Combining the strengths of Intergraph and ERDAS (alongwith Leica Geosystems), we now offer the industry’s mostcomprehensive set of geospatial solutions, aligning all thevehicles necessary to make the Dynamic GIS a reality.Completely connecting sensors to software and software tosolutions catapults our entire industry into a new era, whereintegrated geospatial systems replace the traditional domainsof GIS, remote sensing, photogrammetry, surveying, and mapping.The Dynamic GIS aligns the most innovative offerings in thegeospatial industry. We have the market ingredients, coupledwith a revolutionary strategy to fulfill the increasing demandsfor information portraying our changing earth.Learn more at www.erdas.com/DynamicGIS. Please visitwww.erdas.com or contact us at info@erdas.com or+1 877 GO ERDAS.imaging notes // Summer 2011 // www.imagingnotes.com21

1 2 By Leonard DavidResearch AssociateSecure World FoundationSuperior, Colo.www.secureworldfoundation.org Author’s Note: The author would like tothank Bevan French of the SmithsonianInstitution and David Kring of the Lunarand Planetary Institute for their guidance inwriting this article.Call them trouble-makers of the heavens. Asteroids andperiodic comets can wander into the Earth’s neighborhood, and on occasion,crash into our planet. Earth has the scars to prove it.Over geologic time, these malicious cosmic interlopers have left their mark onour world. But obtaining a true inventory of Earth’s impact craters is made difficultby erosional processes over eons of time, as well as vegetation overgrowth – alongwith politics and even a touch of secrecy.Impact-minded SearchersIn the past, most images of craters were aerial or from the Space Shuttle. SeeFigures 1-2. Today, in the 21st century, thanks to an armada of Earth-orbiting satellitesthat provide worldwide coverage, including use of high-resolution imagingtechnology, the prospect for eyeing new sites has been boosted. Moreover, specialprocessing can reveal insights about a crater imaged by a digital system.“Impact-minded searchers have discovered at least ten new impact structuresthrough satellite remote sensing. Before Landsat, and to some extent since 1973,observations from airplanes, and in particular aerial photos, were a source ofinformation about possible craters,” notes Nicholas Short, formerly with NASA’sGoddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. He explains in a web-based22imaging notes // summer 2011 // www.imagingnotes.com

In another case, the so-named“Kamil Crater” was located a few yearsago during a Google Earth “low flightcharting mission”– some 1,000 metersabove ground level. Scientists think theimpact crater was created within thepast couple thousand years.Located at Djebel Kamil, south of GilfKebir near the Sudanese border in Egypt,the crater is 45 meters in diameter andis considered one of the best-preservedcraters found on Earth to date. Subsequentground truth visits by teams foundthousands of meteorite fragments scatteredwithin the crater and surroundingarea. See Figure 4.Science Conference in March of thisyear, study leader Ludovic Ferrière,curator of the rock collection at theNatural History Museum of Vienna inAustria, reported that the feature wasdefinitely an impact crater.A detailed analysis of the Luizi structurecombined a remote sensing studywith geological field observations andexamination of rock samples during a2010 field campaign. The researchersconfirmed Luizi to be a complex andhuge impact crater in the remote Congo– the first known impact crater in centralAfrica, bringing the number of knownmeteor craters on Earth to 182.SS Figure 3. Kebira Crater in Egypt’s Western Desert’souter rim is 31 km in diameter, as indicated by thedashed circular curve superimposed on the image.Landsat color composite image is courtesy of BostonUniversity Center for Remote Sensing.ered the remnants of the largest crater inthe Sahara. El-Baz, the Center’s director,named the find “Kebira,” meaning “large”in Arabic and also relating to the crater’sphysical location on the northern tip of theGilf Kebir region in southwestern Egypt.See Figure 3.One of the data sources that assistedin mapping of the feature is the ShuttleRadar Topography Mission, which allowsmeasurement of elevations in three dimensions.Landsat Enhanced Thematic MapperPlus (ETM+) images and RadarSat-1 datawere also tasked.But why hadn’t this large feature beenseen before?“Kebira may have escaped recognitionbecause it is so large – equivalentto the total expanse of the Cairo urbanregion from its airport in the northeast tothe Pyramids of Giza in the southwest,”said El-Baz in a 2006 university pressstatement. “Also, the search for craterstypically concentrates on small features,especially those that can be identified onthe ground. The advantage of a view fromspace is that it allows us to see regionalpatterns and the big picture.”3Ground TruthThe need for satellite remote sensing tohand off to in-the-field confirmation of acrater was recently illustrated. A circulardepression, called the Luizi structure,deep in the Democratic Republic of theCongo, was pinpointed a few years agoas a possible crater by Philippe Claeysof the Department of Geology and headof Research Unit Earth System Sciencesat Vrije Universiteit Brussel in Brussels,Belgium.Looking at the world distributionmap of impact structures, it was clearto Claeys and his colleagues that manycraters remain to be discovered onthe old shield of Central Africa. SeeFigure 5 for a World Map of Craters fromthe year 2000. In 1990, based on thecircular morphology, an impact originwas proposed for a structure. Unfortunately,the feature was located in arather remote region, difficult to visit ina country in tumult and strife for morethan 25 years.In the Claeys-headed research, adigital elevation model of the promisingcrater was generated from the AdvancedSpaceborne Thermal Emission andReflection Radiometer (ASTER) imaginginstrument flying on NASA’s Terra satellite.That remote sensing study of theLuizi structure supported a possibleimpact crater origin.At the 42nd Lunar and PlanetaryManual FindsCreating algorithms for automaticidentification of craters on Earth is a nonstarter,said Tom Stepinski, the ThomasJefferson Chair Professor in the Departmentof Geography at the University ofCincinnati. Stepinski has been a leader inthis arena – but for use on beyond-Earthtargets.Craters on planets that either lackatmosphere or have very tenuousatmosphere are well preserved. Notso for Earth, he continued. For one,craters erode very fast (on geologicaltime scales) due to fast scale of erosionon Earth, so terrestrial topographypreserves only a very fresh crater (likethe one in Arizona). Older impact siteson Earth are heavily degraded andcannot be detected remotely.Additionally, even for fresh craters,images cannot be used because vegetationmasks the sites of impacts to thedegree that makes automatic detectionof them from satellite images impossible.“Thus, on Earth we need to relyon manual finds. Yes, we can use satellitedata Digital Elevation Models andimages to help us in this process, butthe process cannot be automatic…algorithmic,”Stepinski explained.Use of radar imagery taken fromspace has been a huge help in interpretingprospective impact craters, said RichardGrieve at the Earth Sciences Sector,24imaging notes // summer 2011 // www.imagingnotes.com

Natural Resources Canada in Ottawa.“One of the problems with optical imageryis that what you’re getting back is basicallya reflection of vegetation. And thatvegetation doesn’t necessarily follow thestructure of the crater,” he told ImagingNotes, “so I think radar is one of the waysto go.” See Figure 6 of the Zhamanshincrater in Kazakhstan.Grieve said that the cratering rate onEarth is considered to be twice as high ason the Moon. “So there are still craterson our planet to be found, particularly inplaces like Africa, which has not been wellexplored.” Also, with the Earth coveredmostly with water, Grieve suggestedthat the U.S. Navy is holding tight whatundersea crater sites they have charted,“but they are not telling everybody.”Evolution of Our Planet and Its LifeWhile being on the lookout forimpact sites on Earth may be a dauntingchallenge, there are several rationalesfor identifying new craters, explainedDavid Kring at the Center for LunarScience & Exploration at the Lunar andPlanetary Institute in Houston, Texas.“My team’s discovery of the Chicxulubimpact crater and its link to theK-T boundary mass extinction eventillustrate how impact cratering canaffect both the geologic and biologicevolution of Earth,” Kring told ImagingNotes. Discovery of new craters, headded, will help researchers explorehow other events may have punctuatedthe evolution of our planet and its life.Kring also flagged the fact thatdiscovering new craters can helpmeasure better the environmentaleffects of impact events in the geologichistory, and thus provide the foundationneeded to better assess future impacthazards. “Sometimes saving the planetmeans looking at its past,” he said.There’s another plus, Kring suggested,in identifying new impact craters onEarth. “They are true natural wondersand provide any host country with aneconomic attraction and an opportunity toenhance science education of the public.”Discerning Circles, the Eye-brainConnection“Satellite images from orbit are usefulfor recognizing candidate impact craters.Of course, natural geological processesbesides impact cratering can createcircular features on the Earth’s surface.And the human eye-brain connectionloves to discern simple shapes like circles,whether they are really there or not,”said Clark Chapman, a leading asteroidexpert at the Southwest Research Institutein Boulder, Colorado.Certainly the earth must havebeen as heavily cratered as the moon,Chapman said. “But most of the moon’scraters formed billions of years ago andremain today because of the moon’sminimal geological activity. The earthis a geologically active planet, withcontinents forming and eroding awayand seafloors in constant motion.”That being the case, Chapmanadded, virtually all of the ancientcraters on Earth were rendered invisiblelong ago. Those remaining that geologistscan decipher from on-the-groundstudies are often not recognizable fromspace. Most known terrestrial cratersare of rather recent origin and haven’tbeen around long enough to have beeneroded away, he told Imaging Notes.“Understanding the earth’s impacthistory can help us understand thehistories of other planets, since cometsand asteroids like those that havestruck the earth strike other planets,as well,” Chapman said. “And cratershave a practical importance. They canfocus geological processes that collectvaluable resources, like oil and nickel,for extraction.”Geological ForensicsThe impact cratering record onEarth is extremely “under-served,” saidJames Garvin, Chief Scientist at NASA’sGoddard Space Flight Center.“The ability to preserve the scarsof major collisional events is extremelychallenged by the incredible dynamismof Earth’s geological processes.Indeed, the current record of ‘proven’impact sites is measured in the range of150-200, rather than in the thousands,as one might presume,” Garvin said.Part of the issue with discovering thelargely missing terrestrial cratering record,Garvin said, is a combination of preservation(how well an impact landform orsignature can be preserved over time in agiven geologic setting) and detection.“We have about 150 million squarekilometers of land area today to search,with much of it vegetated, overprintedby very recent geological events, such asshifting sands, and some of it coveredwith ice,” Garvin advised. “Methodsof detecting impact features – craters,signatures in rocks, geophysical expressions– while improving, remain somewhatlimited,” he told Imaging Notes.For Garvin, the bottom line: “Thisis a geological forensics problem!”4SS Figure 4. Kamil Crater is located at Djebel Kamil, southof Gilf Kebir near the Sudanese border in Egypt. This crateris 45 meters in diameter and is considered one of thebest-preserved craters found on Earth to date. Photographcourtesy Museo Nazionale dell’Antartide Università di Siena.Looking AheadBolstering the topographic reconnaissanceof Earth as a whole is possible overthe next decade via planned or recommendedmissions that NASA’s EarthScience Program may implement.Given increased thinking of how bestto thwart an incoming object from stirringup a bad day in our world, plus givennew awareness of the impact flux at theimaging notes // Summer 2011 // www.imagingnotes.com25

Moon and Mars, “we need a ‘missionto planet Earth’ approach to finding ourown planet’s impact record.”Looking ahead, Garvin spotlightsthe emerging global satellite remotesensing datasets, including those fromNASA’s Earth Observing System(EOS) spacecraft, the Shuttle RadarTopography Mission (SRTM), Canada’sRadarSat missions, and commercialremote sensing satellites, such asGeoEye. “These datasets could revolutionizepreliminary detection of candidateimpact features – or signatures –over the next decade.”Garvin pointed out that the key torealistic detection will be establishmentof a set of definitive criteria for recognitiontied to an existing benchmark set ofsignatures calibrated in the new remotesensing datasets. New orbital assets suchas Canada’s RadarSat-2 and Astrium andDLR’s TerraSAR-X could contribute tothis criteria-shaping, as would NASA’sfine enough to investigate kilometer-scalefeatures, are particularly interesting.Garvin also senses that declassificationof certain datasets would augment5the search for candidate craters. Forexample, a bonus would be makingavailable full resolution Shuttle RadarTopography Mission digital elevationmodels at 30-meter horizontal scales forAfrica, South America and Asia. Furthermore,and another plus, would be releaseof U.S. Department of Defense imagingof regions of Africa, Asia, and SouthAmerica, including their specializedradar images of known craters, to understandbetter their signatures.“The impact record of Earth is a key tounderstanding the history of life,” Garvinobserved. That objects impact Earth and6SS Figure 5. Known Impact Structures (Craters Map). This image shows the geographicdistribution of about 160 structures that have been positively identified as impact structuresbased on the presence of shock-metamorphic effects and/or the presence of a meteoriticcomponent or fragments at the structure, as of 2000.WWFigure 6. Zhamanshin crater in Kazakhstan. This image combines 90-meter resolutionShuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) topography with Spaceborne Imaging Radar (SIR-C)polarimetric synthetic aperture radar to show the subtle crater that formed only 870,000 yearsago. Courtesy: James Garvin/NASA.upcoming ICE-Sat-2 and missions ofthe Deformation, Ecosystem Structureand Dynamics of Ice (DESDynI) thatinvolve Earth-imaging radar and Lidartechnologies.Ultimately, however, field expeditionsinvolving geophysics (gravity, seismicsurveys) and sample analysis will be essential,Garvin said. New airborne geophysicalmethods, in which topography andmicro-gravity can be measured at scalesResourcesLunar and Planetary Institute: www.lpi.usra.eduThe Earth Impact Database at the Planetary and Space Science Centre:www.passc.net/EarthImpactDatabase/index.htmlaffect climate is not in question, he said;rather, what is in question “is a morecomplete history of how impact eventshave shaped the details of the environmental-biological-geologicalhistory ofour planet for the past 4.6 billion years.”Garvin concluded that the nextdecade or two “could see an explosionin the recognition of as-yet undiscoveredaspects of the Earth’s impactrecord.”Geology.com - Meteor Craters: http://geology.com/meteor-impact-craters.shtml26imaging notes // summer 2011 // www.imagingnotes.com

CALL FOR PAPERSISDE7Incorporating WALIS FORUM 2011and the STATE NRM CONFERENCE23 – 25 AUGUST 2011 Perth Convention and Exhibition CentreThis invitation is your opportunity to contribute to ISDE7,WALIS Forum 2011 and the State NRM Conference bysharing your knowledge, experience and insight withover 1000 conference delegates from the areas of digitalearth modelling, spatial sciences and natural resourcesmanagement.SubmissionsIf you are interested in presenting at the Conference, pleaserefer to the website (http://www.isde7.net/call-for-papers)for suggested themes and topics.Abstracts are to be no more than 250 words and must besubmitted by 28 February 2011 according to the details andguidelines outlined.Additional InformationIf you have any queries about the Call for Papers, pleasecontact the WALIS Office on +61 8 9273 7046 or emailwalis@walis.wa.gov.au.Follow us!http://www.facebook.com/WALISForumhttp://au.linkedin.com/in/walishttp://twitter.com/WALISForumimaging notes // Summer 2011 // www.imagingnotes.com27

1Image Analysis Provides the IntelligenceNecessary to Prepare, Respond andHeal After Natural DisastersExtreme weather is wreaking havoc in NorthAmerica this year. The 2011 tornado season was recordsetting,beginning in April with 438 confirmed twisters.The same extreme weather patterns causing tornadoes are alsoleading to heavy rainfall in the midwestern region of the continent.Runoff led to serious flood conditions, blocking roads and highways,inundating thousands of acres of agricultural land and leavingbuildings saturated with water. While the North flooded,winds and drought struck the South. West Texas experienced multiplefires that burned more than 1.6 million acres of brush andforest land.WWFigure 1. Change detection is an exact science when using properly registered imagery. Here before and after images ofthe Red River flooding show areas that have been impacted.By Karen RichardsoNEsri WriterRedlands, Calif.www.esri.com28imaging notes // summer 2011 // www.imagingnotes.com

Complex disasters like these require quick response. Earth observation throughremote sensors can play a key role in managing information. Data can be collected innear real-time and analyzed for all aspects of disaster management, from preparationto response and remediation. In dire situations, imagery can become more than justa basemap or backdrop. When integrated with GIS, imagery’s key benefit becomesproviding a rich set of derived information for advanced analysis.2Knowledge from Accurate Image RegistrationEsri (Redlands, Calif.) is working with its partners to bring remotely sensed dataand image processing into the GIS environment. This integration is making Earthobservation imagery more easily accessible to a wider user community, which standsto benefit greatly from improved understanding of the dynamic conditions of theearth through repeat data collection and monitoring.Esri partner PCI Geomatics (Ontario, Quebec, Canada) provides automated satellitesensor data integration into Esri’s ArcGIS environment. PCI’s GeoImaging Toolsfor ArcGIS automate the methods for correcting imagery, ensuring seamless integrationwithin the GIS platform. Traditionally, these tasks were performed by scientistsand others with specific expertise in remote sensing. A lack of tools and knowledge ofhow to integrate imagery into GIS has long been a barrier to accessing imagery.“Even with the increased availability of remotely sensed imagery, downloading andmaking use of the imagery remains a daunting task for the nonexpert,” says Kevin Jones,director of marketing and product management at PCI Geomatics. “What should I dowith it now? Where do I bring it in? What format is it in? How do I access the differentbands? These are some of the common questions and reasons why non-remote sensingexperts hesitate in downloading and making more use of satellite imagery.”Historically, GIS users seeking to overlay imagery for their analysis needed topre-process the imagery to ensure it would line up with existing features for a givenstudy area. Collecting ground control points (GCPs) manually was the order of theday. Correcting imagery to remove distortions and ensure proper alignment meantmanual collection of common features on referenced and non-referenced datasets.“Poor imagery registration limits a GIS user’s ability to efficiently perform simplechange detection and feature extraction tasks,” says Lawrie Jordan, Esri directorof imagery. “By achieving high levels of image registration accuracy, GIS users canextract features and focus on more detailed analysis.”Image registration is the first step to seamlessly integrating data into any organization’sGIS workflow. Having the right tools to perform rigorous corrections and toensure that multiple types of data are properly aligned for further analysis allows usersto tap the knowledge they need from their imagery. Now, decision makers can use multitemporal,multi-spectral and multi-sensoral imagery to derive information throughadvanced analysis of Earth observation in support of better business decisions.SS Figure 2. This image shows a 3Doverlay of burn severity. A DNBR sliceimage is draped over a DEM in Esri’sArcScene to begin visually exploringthe different regions that have beenimpacted by fire. Red areas havesteep slopes and severe burning andare at risk for soil loss.How the Red River FlowsUp-to-date derived information from imagery can help disaster management authoritiesperform rapid response activities. Authorities not only are able to use massive amountsof remotely sensed imagery efficiently, but also have the ability to use the data for changedetection, providing scientific, or evidence-based, decision making.Two years ago, during the flood season of 2009, RADARSAT- 2, with syntheticaperture radar (SAR) imagery, was used by authorities in Manitoba, Canada, to mapthe extent of the Red River flood and its progression on a daily basis. SAR imagery isextremely valuable, since it can detect the presence of overland flooding even throughadverse weather conditions such as cloud cover and darkness.“Multiple satellite sensors collect imagery on a daily basis,” explains Jones. “Theseimaging notes // Summer 2011 // www.imagingnotes.com29

satellites can collect vast amounts ofimagery that are transmitted to theground and disseminated for analysiswithin minutes of acquisition. Integratedanalysis and decision makingin an integrated GIS platform likeArcGIS provide the ideal environmentfor making informed decisions thatcan help save lives and limit damage toinfrastructure and property.”An international watershed, the RedRiver flows north toward Manitobaalong the Minnesota-North Dakotaborder into Lake Winnipeg. The RedRiver basin is a flat and highly productiveagricultural area spreading across116,500 square kilometers. Rapidchanges from cool winters to warmsummers, coupled with the terrain andclimatic conditions, contribute to anarea that is highly sensitive to springflooding.and transmitted to the Water Stewardshipgroup. See Figure 1.“Critical decisions that affect ourcitizens are carefully considered byexamining the information derivedfrom the imagery,” says MichelleMethot, who is a water stewardshipspecialist in the Water Stewardshipgroup. “Imagery played a critical roleto help the Manitoba government makethe difficult but responsible decision tomake a controlled opening in a dikealong the Assiniboine River. Geospatialanalysis allowed us to take manyfactors into consideration related to theaffected areas, the local population andpotential for greater damage. This analysisled to informed decision makingand, ultimately, to the breaching of amain dike at the Hoop and Holler bendof the Assiniboine River.”XXFigure 4. Aboveaverage fire activityhas plagued thesouthern UnitedStates since Februaryof this year dueto above normaltemperaturesand below normalprecipitation, dryingout vegetation andcreating fuel forfires. Photo credit:Joe Zamudio, ITT VIS.Geospatial Analysis Provides aComplete PictureMany organizations were involved inmonitoring and responding to the 2009flooding. Response efforts included theuse of an ArcGIS software-based decisionsupport system that proved to be avery useful tool for collecting, storing,accessing and distributing the informationpertaining to the floods. At theprovincial level, the Manitoba WaterStewardship group embraced the use ofEarth observations and in particular,RADARSAT to detect and monitorflood conditions on a routine basis dueto the reliability of the information andtimeliness of its collection and delivery.The provincial authorities establishedlinks with the EmergencyResponse team at the Canada Centrefor Remote Sensing (CCRS). Satelliteimages were collected in real timeat a ground receiving station thatproduced an initial imagery productwithin minutes of acquisition. AtCCRS, experts carefully analyzed theimagery to delineate flooded areas inthe updated imagery. The informationwas then converted to a vector format3In the case of this year’s Red Riverfloods in Manitoba and North Dakota,Earth observation coupled with GIS isagain playing a critical role in providingnear real-time information for disasterresponse. Using repeat pass collectionand all-weather, day/night SARsatellites, near real-time monitoring ispossible in the flood-affected regionsof Manitoba. The imagery is used tosupport daily analysis and to enhancesituational awareness by identifyingthe rapid changes in the landscape as aresult of flooding. Derived information4WWFigure 3. Userscan interactivelyselect an areaand run acustom imageprocessing toolthat detects a burnzone inside the GISenvironment. In thiscase, an ENVI toolis used within theArcGIS environment.is used to support decision making onassessing potential damages to communitiesand infrastructure. Determinationof the risk for failures of dikes,and help in determining where existingflood diversion and protection infrastructureneeds reinforcing, are againbeing provided.Derived Information HelpsMitigation EffortsThe use of Earth observation extendspast the disaster response stage. Imageryprovides a record of conditions on the30imaging notes // summer 2011 // www.imagingnotes.com

ground that can be used after the fact toconfirm the location of flood-affectedhomes and businesses. This informationis useful for individuals, businesses andinsurance companies that process claims.“The usefulness of imagery extendsbeyond providing a backdrop. Usersincreasingly appreciate the rich set ofinformation that can be derived frommutli-temporal, multi-spectral, multisensorand multi-resolution imagery,”says Esri’s Jordan.Education and outreach are criticalfor truly discovering the potential for theoperational use of imagery. Through ajoint partnership, McDonald, Detwillerand Associates (MDA), based in BritishColumbia, Canada, and the owner/operator of RADARSAT-2 and PCIGeomatics, has been developing a seriesof instructional webinars that focus onthe utility of SAR imagery. The webinarsare based on operational uses suchas the Manitoba case. In addition, adedicated website was created by PCIGeomatics to provide basic informationon SAR imagery, its characteristics andutility; the site can be accessed at www.pcigeomatics.com/sar.From Floods to FiresWhile locals in Canada and theNorthern United States have beenbattling flooding, those living in theSouthwest have been putting out fires.This year, a drought in West Texas hasled to large areas with extremely dryunderbrush and ground cover. Currentweather conditions have included persistentwinds of 20 miles per hour orfaster that have contributed to severefire conditions in the area. Total burnarea in the beginning of May was morethan 256,000 acres from 511 wildfires,according to the United States Departmentof Agriculture. While the areasof the fires are sparsely populated, thedisruption to local farming and livestockproduction is expected to be significant.Esri partner ITT VIS (Boulder, Colo.)provides GIS analysts with the ability tovisualize imagery and exploit informationto face challenges like wildfires, whichburn millions of acres of land each year.Working over time, ITT VIS has broughtits advanced image processing software,ENVI, into the ArcGIS environmentvia the ENVI Tools for ArcGIS, a fullyintegrated ArcGIS Toolbox. Today, thetwo products work seamlessly togetherto share data and the ENVI imageprocessing and analysis tools can be usedwithin the ArcGIS environment. Usingthe toolbox, GIS users can build modelsthat can be applied to any application on aserver, and then published throughout anenterprise with Web applications anyonecan use. “This capability gives GIS usersaccess to the more real-time informationfrom geospatial imagery for use inGIS workflows,” says Lori Thompson,vice president of marketing and supportservices, ITT VIS.Staff at ITT VIS created a fire fueltool model built for ArcGIS using ENVIimage processing algorithms. The modelmaps the distribution of fire fuels andburn hazards using spectral imagery.Fire managers need to provide effectivemethods for mapping fire fuels accurately,since fuel distribution is very importantfor predicting fire behavior. Looking atelevation of the land, slope, aspect, andcanopy cover, and developing a surfacefuel model coupled with weather andwind data can provide those fighting thefires with the most accurate informationin order to plan their response.Surface fuels are the greatest concern,since they are major contributors to theintensity and spread of fires. The firefuel tool developed highlights areaswith high fire fuel by identifying areaswith dry or drying plant material, ahigh risk factor for wildfire, as opposedto low fire fuel areas containing mainlylush, green plants.In addition to this model, multipleENVI tools exist to help assess vegetationdamage caused by fires and extremeweather events. Standard classificationand feature extraction tools help analyststo map areas of damage. Change detectiontools can also automatically locateimaging notes // Summer 2011 // www.imagingnotes.com31

and measure damage. When damagedareas are small relative to the size of thescene, an anomaly detection tool can helpquickly identify damaged areas that aredifferent from those in the background.Taking Back the LandWhile burning fires need to be dealtwith quickly and efficiently, the effectsof the fire after the burn also causesignificant issues. Covering hundreds ofacres of land stripped of natural protectionand reestablishing conservationmeasures, especially on rangeland suchas in Texas, can be an expensive task.The importance of installing measuresthat reduce post-fire damage and aidin rehabilitating the area is high, as theUSDA recognizes. This federal agencyhas made $400,000 available throughits Environmental Quality IncentivesProgram to help Texans reestablishthe land. This funding can be used torebuild fences, defer livestock grazingand bring stability to farmers’ sometimesprecarious operations, allowingthe land to heal.Imagery can again assist in allocatingresources when erosion remediationis necessary after a severe burnsuch as that in Texas. Since all agenciesoperate under cost controls, derivedinformation from remotely sensed datacan be used to prioritize which regionsreceive post-fire mitigation first.Using the ENVI image processingtools available for ArcGIS Server, ITTVIS also created another model, the BurnSeverity Toolkit. Taking images beforeand after fires that consumed the areaaround Boulder, Colorado, earlier thisyear, staff calculated a normalized burnratio of the damage. This was accomplishedby comparing the two images tosee how severely burned the area was.The U. S. Geological Survey andthe National Park Service developed aburn severity index based on LandsatThematic Mapper and EnhancedThematic Mapper (TM/ETM) bands4 (near-infrared) and 7 (mid-infrared)that is called the Normalized BurnRatio (NBR). NBR imagery allowsfederal land managers and fire ecologiststo evaluate and compare burnseverity within individual fires andbetween fires across various ecosystems.The formula for the NBR isvery similar to that of the NormalizedDifference Vegetation Index (NDVI),a simple numerical indicator that canbe used to analyze remotely sensedmeasurements. In this case, the formulauses band 4 and band 7. The DifferencedNatural Background Radiation(DNBR) is computed by subtracting thepost-fire NBR from the pre-fire NBR.The higher DNBR values are correlatedwith more severe burns.The next step is to integrate theDNBR information with slope informationcalculated from existing digitalelevation models. Areas of high DNBRand high slope are merged into a singleresult and flagged as having a higherosion potential. All of these processingsteps are combined using Esri’s Model-Builder technology, along with surfaceinformation such as soil type, surfacecover, impermeability, and many otherproperties, to derive a full erosion probabilitymodel that can be used to helpprioritize remediation efforts. ENVIimage analysis tools such as the fire fuelload tool and the burn severity toolkitbeing integrated with ArcGIS are twoexamples of how imagery brings a layerof information to GIS workflows thathelps in better critical decision making.See Figures 2-4.Importance of Imagery in theInternational CommunityImpacts from disasters in NorthAmerica such as the Red River floodingand Texas wildfires, as well as othersthroughout the world, are considerable.Geospatial information can improveour understanding of impacts and risks,leading to improved preparedness, preventionand mitigation of impacts. The operationaluse of satellite Earth observationand the increase in the sources availablehave made a crucial difference to howthe earth’s resources are managed, wherepeople choose to live, and what steps aretaken to protect against the impacts offuture disasters. Detailed analysis in GISsystems has made this possible – integratingthe dynamic information derivedfrom Earth observation adds the crucialtime element.The international community hasrecognized the valuable informationthat can be extracted from Earthobservation imagery and places a highdegree of importance on the creation ofpolitical mechanisms and agreementsto facilitate the acquisition, processingand dissemination of imagery. In July1999, the European and French spaceagencies (ESA and CNES) initiatedthe International Charter “Space andMajor Disasters” with the CanadianSpace Agency (CSA) signing the charteron October 20, 2000.The goal of the “Disaster Charter”is to provide access to satellite imagerywhen disasters strike to help withassessment and relief efforts – imageryfrom optical and SAR satellites can berequested in a rapid manner. Satelliteresources are made available throughdata sharing agreements set up withthe space agencies of the respectivegovernments. According to the latestannual report, the charter was activated39 times during 2011, an averageof three times per month, up sharplyfrom previous years. The informationderived from Earth observation throughthe charter activations has redefinedpeople’s understanding of disasters,how to respond and what preventiveactions to take in the future.Integrated use of imagery in geospatialanalysis has made a tremendousdifference – further integration andstreamlining of workflows will lead toeven better results. The informationimagery brings and the information thatcan be derived give an added advantageby opening up another dimension toreally understand what is going on ina geographic area of interest. To learnmore visit www.esri.com/imagery.32imaging notes // summer 2011 // www.imagingnotes.com

SS Joplin, Missouri is hit by a mile-wide,six-mile long tornado clearing this paththrough town. MJ Harden aerial imagewas taken May 24, 2011, and is courtesyof GeoEye.Solutions for a Challenging WorldEsri’s partners help provide totalsolutions for GIS users who need in-depthintelligence on Earth informationEsri’s partners provide software, services and data thatcreate total solutions for ArcGIS users. More than 2,000 companies in46 countries belong to the ESRI Partner Network ranging from largemultinational corporations to regional specialty companies. While theirproducts and services vary, they all hold a common vision – to bring GISusers the tools they need to perform sophisticated analysis necessary to face thechallenges of our complex world.GeoEye, with their high-resolution imagery such as this one of the tornado inJoplin, Missouri, is an example of one organization bringing specialized tools into theArcGIS environment. The satellite and aerial imagery that GeoEye collects around theglobe each day is processed and can be used in a multitude of applications rangingfrom mapping, disaster response, infrastructure management and environmentalmonitoring. Other examples of how imagery and advanced image processing help GISusers become part of the recovery from catastrophes like this is detailed in this issue’sfeature article on page 28.Information on Esri partners can be found at www.esri.com/partners. Findorganizations that span the spectrum of solutions from getting data into your GISsystem to creating professional quality output, such as those showcased in thisspecial section.ESRIBusinessPartnersForImageryimaging notes // summer 2011 // www.imagingnotes.com[special sponsored section]33

The Cloud is rolling into San DiegoEsri international User Conference - Imagery Island Booth 1406What will the cloud bring to you? Is cloud computing an opportunity ora threat? Why is improving access to volumes of multi resolution, multispectral, multi sensor, and multi temporal information important, and howwill it move the geospatial industry forward? PCI Geomatics experts will beon hand in booth 1406 at the Esri International User Conference to discussall this and more. Stop by the booth and discover your cloud strategy.The Cloud is Here. Be ready34imaging notes // summer 2011 // www.imagingnotes.comGeoImagingAcceleratorwww.pcigeomatics.com/cloud

PCI Geomatics Improves Accessto Historical and New ImageryESRIBusinessPartnersForImageryThe use of geospatial information has exploded in therecent years, and the vision expressed by Jack Dangermond severalyears back “GIS is for Everyone” has come true. Consumer mappingis the new reality, and imagery is a key reason for this.As a developer of software tools and solutions that enhance the ArcGISplatform, PCI Geomatics is working closely with Esri to make imagerymore accessible to non-remote sensing experts. Imagery, as the newbasemap, provides that instant connection to geography. Anyone lookingat imagery, especially high resolution, can make an immediate connectionto the features they can see – their houses, cars, schools, neighbourhoods,community centres, etc.Current operational satellite missions are many, and vary from coarseresolution (with large spatial coverage) to medium and high resolution(with decreasing spatial coverage). Spectral bands and sensor types are alsomany, ranging from multi-spectral sensors, hyperspectral sensors, and alsoSynthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) sensors. The latest trends are to operatesatellite missions as constellations, as has been seen with RapidEye, andTerraSAR-X and TanDEM-X, for example.Consumer mapping applications have grown exponentially, but PCIGeomatics believes we have only begun to scratch the surface. Stored awayin the archives are incredible volumes of multi-resolution, multi-spectral,multi-sensor, and multi-temporal information from these Earth observationsensors. What applications can be developed using this rich source of information?Finding out requires that imagery be accessible, and tools makediscovering, accessing, analyzing, and disseminating/sharing informationderived from imagery as easy as it is for hundreds of millions of people todownload a geospatial application like Google Earth, or adopt the use ofmap-based local search sites such as Google Maps, Bing, Yahoo Maps, orMapQuest.Esri has made incredible advances in building a platform that enablessharing of geospatial information, deploying the infrastructure for hostingand sharing geospatial information, such as ArcGIS. Together with Esri,PCI Geomatics is working to develop easy to use tools and offer solutionsthat will allow users to tap into those rich sources of historical datamentioned above.An oft overlooked, but critical step in extracting valuable informationfrom these varied sources of imagery is pre-processing. PCI supports theEsri platform by offering automated means of co-registering raster layersto each other in a completely automated manner – vector layers can also beused as a reference – by bringing data into pixel-perfect alignment using awell known environment (ArcGIS); non-remote sensing experts are empoweredto discover applications of imagery that have not yet been created.PCI’s extension, GeoImaging Tools for ArcGIS helps make this possible.Recognizing the increasing use and interest in Radar-based Earth observationinformation, the companyis also working to make SARAnalysis tools available for ArcGISusers. Lastly, and perhaps mostinterestingly, PCI is working todeploy advanced, automated imageprocessing technology to the cloud,making imagery, and accurateanalysis thereof, accessible andavailable.PCI Geomatics is a leader ingeoimaging products and solutions,delivering modular imageprocessing software, training, andsupport services to government,industry and academic clientsworldwide. For nearly 30 years, PCIhas been at the forefront of the geoimageprocessing software industry,developing desktop software forproduction workflows.imaging notes // summer 2011 // www.imagingnotes.com[special sponsored section]35

Shifting gearSScan with speed...iP-S23D Mobile Mapping SystemEngineered to operate at normal traffic speeds, the IP-S2 collectsprecise vehicle position and bearing data while capturing sphericalimagery and georeferenced scans of roadway objects.Revolutionize the way you collect anD Manage Data.36imaging notes // summer 2011 // www.imagingnotes.comScan to your mobile phoneGet the free mobile app, Tag Reader: http://gettag.mobitopconpositioning.com/ips2

Dmapas Launches Topcon’sIP-S2 in South AmericaTechnology and Adventure Meet on a Global ScaleMapas Digitales, S.A. (also known as Dmapas) is based inSantiago, Chile. With more than 15 years of operations, thecompany has become the leading provider of business solutionsbased on digital map data, GIS solutions, and exact street address databasesfor Chile, Argentina, and Peru. The company provides the most completeand dynamic data, spatially organized to help their customers on theirbusiness management. Dmapas databases cover more than 93 percent of thepopulated areas in Chile. In 2009, Dmapas created the second countryspecificmapping product in South America.Dmapas collected its vast pool of street map data with mobile digitalcamera/GNSS receiver systems. These systems met the customers’ needs formany years, but the company wanted to gain a competitive edge by addingmobile LiDAR to their services.Adding LiDAR to Dmapas’s customer-oriented solution equationwould provide a more accurate level of geopositioning for measurementsand feature mapping. In addition, LiDARpoint clouds can be exported for use inCAD-based engineering software to createprofiles and cross sections of roadways.Alfredo Escobar, Dmapas’s directorgeneral, expressed interest in Topcon’sIP-S2 and traveled to the United States fora demonstration. Topcon’s mobile mappingsystem uses a GNSS receiver and camera,but also includes LiDAR laser scanners.Escobar returned to Chile to seek projectsFigure 1. Dmapas’ RAV4 with newly for which LiDAR technology could be used.installed IP-S2 at Agua MagallanesWithin months, the opportunity for a pilotcontrol center.project became a reality. Dmapas was engagedto perform a detailed mapping project for AguasMagallanes (www.aguasmagallanes.cl/), thecompany that supplies water to the Antarctic and Magellan provinces of Chile.Aguas Magallanes is headquartered in Punta Arenas, Chile, the southernmostcity in the world. The city is an 800-mile hop to the closest pointof land on the continent of Antarctica. Punta Arenas borders on the Straitof Magellan. To manage and plan water distribution, Aguas Magallanesneeds updated street maps and road cross-sections of three cities — PuntaArenas, Porvenir, and Puerto Natales. For the level of detail and degree ofaccuracy required, Dmapas determined that the IP-S2’s combined LiDARand 360° spherical imagery would be the perfect solution.As part of the IP-S2 deployment, Topcon provides onsite installationand training. Richard Rybka, Topcon’s mobile mapping specialist, wasselected to assist in the project. Patrico Escobar, Dmapas’s operationsESRIBusinessPartnersForImagerymanager for Latin America, decidedto install the system onsite in PuntaArenas rather than at headquartersin Santiago to expedite work on theproject.When the equipment arrived,Aguas Magallanes provided the teamwith space in one of their mechanicalshops. Installation of the IP-S2 andmounting system on the vehicle wascompleted in a day.After the mapping project iscompleted, Dmapas will provideAguas Magallanes with high-leveldeliverables: LiDAR point clouds ofthree project cities; cross sectionsof 250 different streets for eachcity; measurements; and Excelreports. The services and productsthat Dmapas can now provide tocustomers using the IP-S2 wouldhave been impossible to produceusing GNSS and camera systems.The story of Dmapas and theirventure into IP-S2 technology hasone more interesting twist. Tosignify the change in Dmapas’soperational technology and businessmodel, the company will beidentified soon by a new name,XYGO, demonstrating a new brandto illustrate the personalized servicethey bring to their clients.See www.dmapas.com andwww.topconpositioning.com/ips2/.imaging notes // summer 2011 // www.imagingnotes.com[special sponsored section]37

Océ Provides 65 D-sized Maps/HourPrinted, Dried, Cut and CollatedESRIBusinessPartnersForImageryNow GIS users can have fast access to high qualityprinted maps. This means they can discuss critical information withproject teams with greater speed and accuracy, and present informationwith the confidence that last minute details can be printed and distributedquickly. With the Océ ColorWave 600 printer, there is no longer a need towait for full coverage maps to process and print, or damp prints to dry.Productivity is amazing with this flexible, easy-to-use wide format printer.››››››Easy job submission and powerful large-fileprocessing allows for quick access to criticalprinted informationFast print speeds and greater throughput – up to65 D-sized maps per hour – due to the toner-basedsystem, means that more maps can be printed perhour with no drying time.A wide variety of supported media includinginexpensive 20 lb. bond paper, recycled paper, evenTyvek media, mean GIS users can print projectteam maps, presentations and water-resistantfield maps without time-consuming roll changes.According to Larry Wachel, National ResourcesConservation Services, “The planning department usedto send an aerial map to the HP plotter. It would take15 minutes to get across the network to the memoryin the plotter. Then 19 minutes to plot and 5 minutesto dry – total of 38 minutes for the plot. With the Océ[ColorWave] 600 printer, it takes 8 minutes to send andreceive the plot. No drying time saves 30 minutes perplot.”To find out more, visit www.oceusa.com/moremaps10or call 800-714-4427.Print Large FormatColor Maps andDrawings Quickly,on Plain Paper, withGreat Quality (andwaterfast, too).No more printer bottlenecks[special sponsored section]38Productivity is extraordinary with the flexible, easy-to-use Océ ColorWave ® 600printer. One state DOT shortened their print time for fifty 42” x 42” maps from11 hours on their inkjet printer to 1½ hours on the Océ ColorWave ® 600 printer.You can, too. To find out more, visit www.oceusa.com/moremaps11, orcall 800-714-4427.©2011 Océimaging notes // summer 2011 // www.imagingnotes.com

GEOEYE-1 .50-METERJULY 2009GEOEYE-1 .50-METER FEBRUARY 2011Green Point Stadium, Cape Town, South AfricaChange is constant.Access a visual record to help you make better decisions.© 2011 GeoEye. All Rights Reserved.GeoEye ® provides GIS analysts and decision makers with easy, real-time access to today’smost accurate high-resolution imagery. You can search our vast archive to compareimages over multiple timeframes. Keep a visual record of change as it happens withGeoEye imagery and insight.imaging notes // Summer 2011 // www.imagingnotes.comElevating Insight for Better Decision Making39Download complimentary sample images to see for yourself.Go to www.geoeye.com/change

INAUGURALThe fully-assembled Soyuz hasundertaken its first “virtual” flightand downrange mission trajectorysimulation at the Guiana Space Center.The review of the workhorse mediumliftvehicle confirms its readiness to jointhe Arianespace rocket family in 2011.40imaging notes // summer 2011 // www.imagingnotes.comwww.arianespace.com