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Blog: Chris Harlow on ITSearch The Harlow Report Archives
Why make our traditional cities “Smart”?
Cities are spatial, cultural, social , economic, political, legal, democratic and ecological system. Spatial System can be studied from land use and urban networks and services. Cities have abilities to uplift any nation, converting cities to smarter cities makes smarter nations by planning, management, governance and development systems. At present, planning system prepares master plans, zonal plans, urban land management schemes and site planning schemes to achieve the goals of the spatial system that needs a careful relook for the creation of smart cities. Management and governing systems now in operation are legacy colonial with inefficient hierarchical system that is least responsive and in real-time outmoded and cumbersome for the end users. Read full story at Plannign Tank…
first published week of: 07/10/2017
Satellite imagery of Puerto Rico, before and after Hurricane Maria
After the winds and rains of Hurricane Maria swept through Puerto Rico, the island was left in darkness. Electrical power generation was cut for 100 percent of households, cell phone towers went offline, and the airport and other ports closed operations, pending damage and safety reviews. In the days that followed, many municipalities, particularly in the interior, were entirely out of contact.
How severely were they affected? Had the flood waters receded? Were structures still intact?
Direct Relief regularly supports the network of non-profit Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) in Puerto Rico, which often serves the role of first responder for low-income and uninsured people in times of disaster.
Deploying Digital Humanitarians
One of the first, somewhat experimental, steps was to expand Direct Relief’s analytics and mapping capacity by activating the Digital Humanitarian Network (DHN). The DHN is a confederation of professionals working in humanitarian aid, data analytics and information technology, which helps ensure a reasonably efficient process for building response capacity with digital volunteers.
In this case, DHN was acting as the managing connection for humanitarian agencies to Planet, one of the world’s leading remote sensing companies. Planet operates a network of small satellites that capture images of Earth’s land area every single day. It was also one of the first sources of data for determining post-hurricane conditions in Puerto Rico.
Remote sensing is the use of non-localized sensor technology, usually a camera, to collect data and analyze conditions at some point on the planet’s surface. If you’re unable to be physically present to observe an area, then it may still be possible to use orbital or other technologies to examine it from a great distance. Planet has built a fluid online interface that allows users to filter and select imagery based on the type of sensors available, the amount of cloud cover in the imagery, the data and time it was taken, and the proportion of an area of interest covered by that single image. By dragging and dropping images into an online comparison tool, we could determine at least general conditions in that place relative to a pre-storm, undamaged baseline image.
Read full story at Direct Relief…
first published week of: 10/16/2017
Global Geographic Information System & Building Information Modeling Leaders Plan to Drive Integration of Spatial Intelligence and 3D Design Model Information
Autodesk, Inc. and Esri, Inc. today announced the start of a new relationship to build a bridge between BIM and GIS mapping technologies. Together Autodesk and Esri plan to enable a broad range of industries to gain better context by visualizing data of the man-made world, the environment, citizens and the networks that weave it all together.
Partnering with Esri is intended to combine the power of BIM and GIS mapping which will enable our shared customers to build anything, anywhere Andrew Anagnost, CEO, Autodesk
“It is important to consider the needs of future generations during the design and building of projects today,” said Jack Dangermond, President, Esri. “The benefits of partnering with Autodesk will include securing sustainable resources for the growing population, a responsible human footprint on our natural environment, better use of our planet’s resources and more resilient cities.”
For infrastructure owners around the world, both public and private, enabling BIM and GIS mapping software to more seamlessly work together will optimize their ability to plan, design, build and operate infrastructure assets saving precious time and money. Improving the integration of Esri and Autodesk software has the potential to dramatically decrease workflow times.
“Partnering with Esri is intended to combine the power of BIM and GIS mapping which will enable our shared customers to build anything, anywhere,” said Andrew Anagnost, CEO, Autodesk. “Our goals are to provide industry and city planners the ability to design in the context of the real world. This will allow communities to build more connected, resilient cities, and infrastructure with a focused eye on sustainability.”
Autodesk and Esri plan to work together to better integrate their respective technologies, allowing industry professionals to synthesize information from both BIM and GIS to enable a more connected infrastructure.
Read full story at Esri…
first published week of: 11/20/2017
Global Geographic Information System & Building Information Modeling Leaders Plan to Drive Integration of Spatial Intelligence and 3D Design Model Information
Autodesk, Inc. and Esri, Inc. today announced the start of a new relationship to build a bridge between BIM and GIS mapping technologies. Together Autodesk and Esri plan to enable a broad range of industries to gain better context by visualizing data of the man-made world, the environment, citizens and the networks that weave it all together.
Partnering with Esri is intended to combine the power of BIM and GIS mapping which will enable our shared customers to build anything, anywhere Andrew Anagnost, CEO, Autodesk
"It is important to consider the needs of future generations during the design and building of projects today," said Jack Dangermond, President, Esri. "The benefits of partnering with Autodesk will include securing sustainable resources for the growing population, a responsible human footprint on our natural environment, better use of our planet's resources and more resilient cities."
For infrastructure owners around the world, both public and private, enabling BIM and GIS mapping software to more seamlessly work together will optimize their ability to plan, design, build and operate infrastructure assets saving precious time and money. Improving the integration of Esri and Autodesk software has the potential to dramatically decrease workflow times.
"Partnering with Esri is intended to combine the power of BIM and GIS mapping which will enable our shared customers to build anything, anywhere," said Andrew Anagnost, CEO, Autodesk. "Our goals are to provide industry and city planners the ability to design in the context of the real world. This will allow communities to build more connected, resilient cities, and infrastructure with a focused eye on sustainability."
Autodesk and Esri plan to work together to better integrate their respective technologies, allowing industry professionals to synthesize information from both BIM and GIS to enable a more connected infrastructure.
first published week of: 12/11/2017
3D maps created from aircraft mounted lasers are helping the National Trust uncover secrets at the historic Canons Ashby estate in Northamptonshire.
Working with specialist archaeological and heritage practice ArcHeritage, the National Trust commissioned aerial mapping company Bluesky to complete a LiDAR survey of an area of 690 hectares, around and including the estate. From the millions of individual laser measurements collected, Bluesky created high resolution 3D models of the bare earth surface (Digital Terrain Model / DTM) and of its surface features, including building and trees, (Digital Surface Model / DSM).
Analysis of the Bluesky models has already uncovered evidence of more than 300 potential archaeological features within the survey area, whilst comparison with aerial photographs, dating back to the 1940s, is helping to identify more recent features and activities.
“The use of the Bluesky LiDAR data within such an important piece of historic landscape research gives a much better understanding of the site and its immediate environs, and is one of numerous studies that will help to inform conservation and interpretation at Canons Ashby,” commented Anna Badcock, Director of ArcHeritage. “High quality LiDAR data, such as that supplied by Bluesky, has already led to some amazing discoveries at other National Trust landscapes, and we are confident that the data will add to and enrich the story of the Canons Ashby landscape.”
The Bluesky LiDAR data is also being used by ArcHeritage to create a Zone of Theoretical Visibility (ZTV); a computer generated tool that helps to identify the setting of Canons Ashby. The ZTV will help the National Trust understand the potential extent of views from Canons Ashby House, providing a useful tool for making decisions based on the visual impact of future landscape changes.
first published week of: 09/18/2017
But don't expect it to replace video-mapping just yet.
Bosch and TomTom have come together to create high-resolution road maps based on radar signals. The product of the two companies' collaboration, a system called "radar road signature," is a move towards automated driving.
To form the maps, radar signals transmitted by driving cars are used to collect billions of reflection points bouncing off of surrounding structures like road signs and lane dividers. The radar data are then transmitted to a cloud-based server and integrated into a TomTom mapping system, which is then made available to cars on the road. According to Bosch, automated vehicles can use the radar-based map to pinpoint their lane location to within a few centimeters; the first data collection vehicles are expected to hit roads by 2020, starting in Europe and the US. Read full story at Engadget…
first published week of: 06/12/2017