Geospatial intelligence: mapping friction on the front line

“Out in Afghanistan what people thought were security incidents were often actually the result of routine tribal friction that dates back hundreds of years,” says Afghan veteran Pat Fryer.

“The Taliban often took advantage of such confusions,” he believes. “So if you could understand these tribal dynamics by seeing them visualized on a single map rather than many maps sellotaped to the walls of different ops rooms, all with their own non–standard symbols, then these mistakes perhaps wouldn’t happen.”

Three months after retiring from the army, Fryer is now Principal Consultant at Helyx SIS Ltd, a key player in the Geocore consortium that has just been awarded a two–year contract worth £1.9m to research a British capability to do precisely that.

Working with British organizations including UCL and QinetiQ, the Tewkesbury-based firm is researching (for the Ministry of Defense) an innovative geographic information system (GIS) that will deliver revolutionary “geospatial intelligence” to officers on the front line or in HQ. The purpose is ultimately to predict what may happen next, and as a result, perhaps even to prevent it from happening.

The GIS is innovative because for the first time it will automate the intelligence gathering, analysis and dissemination process by automatically collecting terabytes of data from a huge range of sources into a “a fairly chunky database.” Census records, NGO reports and even Twitter postings -- in fact any data with a location attached to it -- will then be analyzed and turned into a product that is then shared and visualized in an accessible way, whether in an app similar to Google Maps, or even in a video–game–like virtual environment.

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first published week of:   03/05/2012

Geospatial mapping enhances Arlington National Cemetery management

Officials at Arlington National Cemetery will use an Army–designed geospatial mapping system to manage cemetery operations, the executive director of the Army National Cemeteries Program said Thursday.

Kathryn A. Condon testified before the House Veterans Affairs Committee’s disability assistance and memorial affairs subcommittee to provide an update on the progress made in rectifying long–standing management problems at Arlington National Cemetery.

“Arlington is no longer a paper–based operation. By producing a single electronic map of Arlington, the staff will assign, manage and track grave sites with an authoritative digital map,” Condon said. “It will allow us to synchronize in real time our burial operations at Arlington.”

The geospatial mapping system allows officials to synchronize burial operations with other daily operations, such as public ceremonies, infrastructure repair, grounds upkeep and public safety activities, Condon explained. The system is linked to Arlington’s interment scheduling system, which allows schedulers to assign grave sites and assign procession routes. It also alerts Arlington staff of other activities in the area, she said.

Arlington is the first national cemetery to use this technology, Condon told the panel.

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first published week of:   03/12/2012

GIS discovers Queensland's tallest tree

Queensland has a new environmental icon: it’s called Big Bob, stretches up more than 70 meters and is believed to be the state’s tallest tree. Sunshine Coast Regional Council geographers used Geographic Information System (GIS) technology from Esri Australia to find the giant Eucalypt, nicknamed “Big Bob” after Sunshine Coast Mayor Bob Abbot, which is around the same height as a 21 story building.

The discovery was made in Conondale National Park, about 50 kilometers west of Maroochydore, during a project to precisely map all vegetation on the Sunshine Coast.

Sunshine Coast Regional Council geospatial analyst Toby Clewett said the GIS–driven find cemented the Sunshine Coast’s reputation as a vibrant, green and diverse region.

“The project team strives to make our region Australia’s most sustainable, and Big Bob is our icon for that goal,” Mr Clewett said. “Using GIS technology, our research uncovered Big Bob, which stands at almost 73 meters tall — the highest tree on record in Queensland.”

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first published week of:   04/23/2012

GIS helps city plan better improvements

Geographical Information Systems is a tool used by engineers, farmers, surveyors, city planners, the military or anyone else needing many types of geographical data.

Hattiesburg officials this morning celebrated the technology in conjunction with National GIS Day, and used the occasion to highlight how GIS technology helps in planning for infrastructure improvements to the city’s streets, neighborhoods and transportation.

Christopher Carr, GIS specialist for the city, said GIS technology gives planners access to statistical and physical data that helps in the planning for proposed bike lanes, transit routes and street improvements.

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first published week of:   11/19/2012

GIS mapping project dropped

The ambitious Geographic Information System (GIS)-enabled mapping project for the city corporation has been dropped.

The scheme, undertaken by the Kerala Sustainable Urban Development Project (KSUDP), with ADB funds, was one of the fundamental components of e-governance.

The KSUDP had earlier allotted the work to a Mumbai-based agency which had completed door-to door surveys in some of the wards in the corporation.

However, the agency’s service was terminated following its poor quality of work. The termination of the project will badly hit the implementation of the e-governance program in corporations. “After terminating the service of the Mumbai-based agency, new tenders were not floated to find another agency”, said a corporation official.

The GIS mapping has been designed to help the civic authorities track the location of buildings and important installations and also pursue building tax defaulters.

“The termination of the project will definitely affect the implementation of the much-awaited e-governance program.”

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first published week of:   09/10/2012

GIS Partnership Brings State-of-the-Art Tools to N.H. Educators

Over 200,000 students in New Hampshire schools now have the ability to learn and apply 21st century geospatial concepts using the ArcGIS software developed by Environmental System Research Institute (ESRI). Thanks to a statewide partnership between ESRI and the New Hampshire Department of Education, this new partnership will allow every public and private school throughout the state unprecedented access to ESRI's state-of-the-art GIS tools for use in education and research. The agreement also includes school administrative use for tasks like creating district maps and efficient bus routes.

“New Hampshire is one of several states in the nation that can provide Geographic Information Systems software to every school in the state free of charge,” said Virginia M. Barry, Ph.D., Commissioner of Education. “We are glad to be able to partner with ESRI to provide this opportunity in NH.”

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first published week of:   07/23/2012