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Aerial mapping company, Bluesky, has launched the first nationwide map providing accurate height measurement for around 40 million buildings.
Created from a combination of remote sensing surveys, including data from aircraft mounted lasers (LiDAR), the Bluesky Heighted Building dataset covers the whole of England, Wales and Scotland, and will help to change the way we visualise and understand the built environment. By applying height values to 41,083,111 buildings, Bluesky is giving planners, developers, local government, utility companies and the emergency services a brand new perspective. Including multiple values for every residential, leisure, retail, commercial and industrial structure in mainland UK, the Bluesky Heighted Building dataset will provide new intelligence to underpin decision making and service delivery.
“By using a range of source data, including the most up to date LiDAR measurements, and complex data processing algorithms, we are able to apply the most accurate height measurement to each and every building polygon in the Ordnance Survey MasterMap layer. This is a first in terms of coverage,” commented James Eddy, Technical Director of Bluesky International.
t, minimum height, average mean height and average median height. The Bluesky Heighted Building dataset is based on and compatible with the Ordnance Survey’s MasterMap (OSMM) product range and, as Bluesky is an Ordnance Survey Licensed Partner, can be packaged with the original OSMM building polygons or, for existing OSMM license holders, supplied as standalone attributes.
“We expect the Bluesky Heighted Building database to revolutionize a range of applications, including the planning and design of new developments, the delivery and maintenance of essential infrastructure services including transport and utilities, and the provision of emergency services,” continued Eddy.
The Bluesky Heighted Building database is currently available for offline sales and will shortly be available online at www.blueskymapshop.com, and complements other height products already on offer from Bluesky, including LiDAR and Photogrammetric Digital Terrain (bare earth) and Digital Surface (including buildings and trees) Models (DTM / DSM), contour, slope and aspect maps.
first published week of: 08/14/2017
Many of The National Map dynamic overlay services have new schemas and updated cartography to provide a better user experience in The National Map viewer and other applications.
The following changes were made throughout August and September 2017, when new services were published to replace previous content:
All land unit types broken out into individual layers. Rather than a single layer with "Other Reserves" that included USFS, Military, and others, each FTYPE (from GU_Reserve) has its own layer, created with definition queries. Affected layers:
National Park
National Forest
National Wilderness
Wildlife Reserve
National Grassland
National Cemetery
Military Reserve
NASA Facility
Metropolitan Washington Airport
BLM land (no labels)
Tennessee Valley Authority land (no labels)
Incorporated Place, Unincorporated Place, Minor Civil Division, Native American Area, Congressional District, County, and Large/Small-scale States remain the same.
Layer order changed.
Labels updated to new typeface. Most labels have their drop shadows or fills changed to be visible against newly designed layers, whether the PADUS style polygons or others.
Labels use drop shadows instead of halos.
Polygon fills of most national lands updated to match color scheme in PADUS viewer .
Outlines/fills of all other features updated to be visible against new USGS Topo base map and grayscale shaded relief.
Visibility restrictions by scale removed from all layers except States which are still divided into large-scale and small-scale layers.
Currently, only States and Counties are on by default while all other layers will have to be manually turned on. States are visible at all scales; Counties are visible in beyond 1:600,000.
Layer order changed.
Label font and halo changed.
Colors of 1x1 degree and 30x60 minute cells changed.
1x1 degree cell features are visible at all scales; 1x1 degree cell labels are visible larger than 9M in scale.
30x60 minute cell features are visible larger than 20M, and 30x60 minute cell labels are visible larger than 5M in scale.
15 minute cell features are visible larger than 4M, and 15 minute cell labels are visible larger than 2M in scale.
7.5 minute cell features are visible larger than 1M, and 7.5 minute cell labels are the same (visible at 577K and larger in scale).
3.75 minute cell features are visible larger than 500K, and 3.75 minute cell labels are the same (visible at 288K and larger in scale).
All layers are on by default (which is same behavior as previous service).
Label layers and feature layers separated.
Labels/features regrouped by type, and reordered. Labels/features are created as single layers (one layer per feature class) by using definition queries.
Layer order changed.
Label font and halo changed.
Some symbols updated.
Post offices and State capitols are on by default while all other layers need to be manually turned on.
Label layers and feature layers separated.
Labels/features regrouped by type, and reordered.
Labels/features are their own layer and can be toggled on/off, rather than being grouped into a single layer (for example, schools, airports, and buildings are separate layers, rather than grouped into a Structure layer as they used to be). Labels/features are created as single layers (one layer per feature class) by using definition queries.
Layer order changed.
Label font and halo changed.
Historical features are grouped by type (cultural-political, hydrographic, and physical).
Symbols for most features updated.
Communities (populated places) are on by default while all other layers need to be manually turned on.
Label font and halo changed.
Index contours have thicker lines than intermediate contours.
Large-scale, 50-foot, and 100-foot contours are regrouped by type and sub-type, and all available sub-types are included in the layer list. Layer order numbers have changed as a result.
Small-scale contours for the continental U.S., Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands have been included, and are visible at 1:1,000,000-scale.
Slight changes were made to visibility-through-scale settings.
Label font and halo changed.
Small-scale transportation data originally from the National Atlas has been refreshed to replace previous content shown in the service.
Additional road types are now included in the small-scale data layers: ferries and railroads.
Large-scale local roads, ferries, tunnels, 4WD trails, and U.S. Forest Service roads are now able to be shown up to 1:300,000-scale.
However, these layers are turned off by default, so users will have to manually turn them on to see them.
For additional details, go to The National Map Data Download and Visualization Services webpage and search under “What’s New”.
first published week of: 10/09/2017
Spanning a series of islands in a shallow lagoon, the city of Venice is renowned for its beauty. But that beauty comes at a cost. The lagoon's tidal patterns mix with the islands' low elevation to cause acqua alta (high water), a periodic flooding that affects most of the city. Although not a threat to human life, acqua alta impedes transportation and endangers Venice's priceless architecture—and the problem is getting worse.
Historically, an exceptional tide (defined as 1.4 meters above sea level) occurs about every four years. In the past decade, however, exceptional tides have become an annual event. Efforts to chart, analyze, and control acqua alta will be crucial to protect Venice in the future.
In these lessons, you'll travel to Venice with ArcGIS Pro. You'll build a 2D map of the city with canals, structures, and some of Venice's most famous landmarks. Then, you'll convert the map into 3D. You'll analyze and quantify the threat of acqua alta, before giving your scene a realistic appearance to show others.
first published week of: 08/07/2017
The National Alliance for Public Safety GIS (NAPSG) Foundation Board of Directors announced Major General William N. Reddel of the New Hampshire National Guard, Richard Butgereit of Florida’s Division of Emergency Management, and Chad Council of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, as recipients of the 2017 Award for Excellence in Public Safety GIS. Awards were presented at a special reception during NAPSG Foundation’s annual National Geospatial Preparedness Summit on August 8, 2017, in Tuscaloosa Alabama.
“The NAPSG Foundation Board of Directors is honored to recognize the exceptional leadership and advancements that this year’s awards recipients represent,” said Chief Rand Napoli, Board Chairman of the NAPSG Foundation. “This year’s recipients represent a unique combination of visionary leadership and measurable progress in applying data and analytics for improved first responder operations.” NAPSG Foundation receives nominations for award recipients each year, and the Board votes on awards in all or some of three categories – local/regional, state, and national/federal.
Concurrently, the 3rd annual National Geospatial Preparedness Summit, held August 7-9 at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, brought together more than 215 public safety and homeland security leaders, first responders, and GIS professional representing 39 states and 120 agencies. The summit was coordinated in coordination with the US Department of Homeland Security, International Association of Fire Chiefs, International Association of Emergency Managers, National Association for Search and Rescue, the National States Geographic Information Council, the Naval Post-Graduate School’s Center for Homeland Defense and Security, and other partner organizations.
The summit is the only national training and preparedness exercise forum dedicated to advancing the use of geospatial information system technology and data by our nation’s first responders. This year’s programming featured hands-on technical GIS training on the latest technology and analytics, a tabletop exercise focused around a complex coordinated attach scenario, keynote speakers from leading local and national agencies, and numerous workshops on issues ranging from damage assessment processes to emerging technologies. The summit culminated with a one-day functional preparedness exercise based on a real-world flood scenario.
first published week of: 08/28/2017
Award-Winning Theoretical Physicist Geoffrey West to Share Stage with Esri Founder and President Jack Dangermond
Esri announced that it will be hosting the 37th Annual Esri User Conference, to be held July 10–14 at the San Diego Convention Center.
Renowned author and theoretical physicist Dr. Geoffrey West will join Jack Dangermond, Esri founder and president, on the plenary stage at the world's largest GIS event. West is a distinguished professor at the Santa Fe Institute. His latest book, Scale: The Universal Laws of Growth, Innovation, Sustainability, and the Pace of Life in Organisms, Cities, Economies, and Companies, explores dynamic growth and the challenges of achieving that growth sustainably. Published May 16, West's new book has been praised by the scientific journal Nature for its "important and eloquent case for the significance [of universal laws of size and growth] in an ecology of the natural and human world."
The annual Esri User Conference is the destination for international technology experts, educators, and GIS users from every discipline—including commercial businesses, governments, and nonprofits—seeking to unlock the hidden potential of their data.
"Today's businesses and governments require new ways of thinking," said Dangermond. "Our users are leading the charge, using mapping and analytics to empower digital transformation, accelerate understanding of big data, and democratize technology. It is an inspiration to see how so many different organizations are applying the science of geography and the technology of GIS to gain insight into their data and reveal hidden patterns and spatial relationships."
Attendees will hear presentations from leaders in the software industry, take part in hands-on learning, and visit more than 350 innovative Esri partners and startups to discover how they are applying The Science of Where. Speakers and organizations on hand to discuss their location intelligence strategies will include the following:
The Esri User Conference offers inspirational guest speakers, an enormous Map Gallery, software workshops, technology demonstrations, and hundreds of discussions led by users and GIS experts.
For more information and to register, visit go.esri.com/pruc.
first published week of: 06/19/2017
Mobile 3D data capture, modelling, and processing technology has significantly improved in the last years, allowing it to become more relevant and recognised in new application fields across several industries. One of those industries is public safety and security.
Safety and security challenges must be presented in a different light when visualised and analysed in 3D, opening new opportunities for national and local authorities to provide safe environments for their citizens. A well-organised public safety authority relies on its departments working together to collect, share, and analyse data while providing scenarios and solutions to city authorities and law enforcement to make informed decisions.
In recent years, we have seen major developments on how data captured by mobile mapping systems has been used for the following applications:
Below, we are showcasing three typical scenarios where the use of wearable mobile mapping technology, namely the Leica Pegasus:Backpack, has enabled faster and more comprehensive 3D views and analysis of a target area, specifically for disaster management, evacuation route planning, and special events planning.
Read full story at Hexagon/Leica Geosystems…
first published week of: 11/06/2017