For a list of current press releases, visit Earth Imaging Journal’s website (www.
eijournal.com). To submit a press release to Earth Imaging Journal, please send
e-mail to news@eijournal.com.
Business
BlackBridge (www.blackbridge.com), Berlin, purchased 50 percent of Brazil geospatial company Santiago & Cintra Consultoria. In addition, BlackBridge announced it took over the operations of the RapidEye Science Archive, which has been operated by the German Aerospace Center.
Clark Labs (www.clarklabs.org), Worcester, Mass., announced it was awarded a $1 million dollar grant from Esri to create a cloud-based version of its Land Change Modeler for Esri’s ArcGIS software. Land Change Modeler provides a variety of tools for land change analysis and prediction.
CompassTools (www.compasstoolsinc.com), Centennial, Colo., installed a Global Positioning System (GPS) reference station in Durango, Colo., to provide free differential correction data to GPS users in the Four Corners area of Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Arizona. The correction data can enhance the accuracy of location coordinates captured by GPS receivers used in mapping and surveying applications.
DAT/EM Systems International (www.datem.com), Anchorage, Alaska, joined Dell’s PartnerDirect program as a Registered Dell Partner. Now DAT/EM Systems International will offer its clients suggested Dell configurations customized for DAT/EM’s photogrammetry systems.
Draganfly Innovations (www.draganfly.com), Saskatoon, Canada, partnered with Pix4D to combine its Draganflyer small unmanned aircraft system with Pix4D software. The system will be able to acquire aerial imagery for mapping, surveying and 3-D modeling.
East View Geospatial (www.geospatial.com), Minneapolis, announced a reseller agreement with South Korea’s Satrec Initiative. Now East View Geospatial resells archive imagery from KOMPSAT 2 and KOMPSAT 3 as well as tasks new imagery collection to meet client requests.
ECAPS (www.sscspace.com/ecaps) Mountain View, Calif., announced it has been awarded a contract by Skybox Imaging to supply 12 complete high-performance green propulsion (HPGP) system modules for the SkySat constellation of high-resolution imaging and video-capable satellites. According to ECAPS, HPGP technology provides a more cost-effective solution than similarly sized hydrazine systems over a satellite mission’s life cycle.
Esri (www.esri.com), Redlands, Calif., announced it is working with the Group on Earth Observations to create a geographic information system (GIS) platform for the Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS) program. Esri technology will make GEOSS Earth observation data available to a wider audience for understanding, monitoring and making decisions about the planet. In addition, Esri announced Alabama Power Company used the company’s GIS technology to move its light detection and ranging data out of boxes and into the hands of more staff members, a move that is saving time and money for design, construction, maintenance, survey and rights-of-way protection.
European Space Imaging (www.euspaceimaging.com), Munich, Germany, signed a multiyear framework supply contract with the European Commission to provide high-resolution satellite data and associated services in support of the European Union’s Common Agricultural Policy. In addition, European Space Imaging announced an agreement with Emirates Space Imaging to host a ground station and deliver products and services from the new Skybox Imaging SkySat constellation.
Exelis (www.exelis.com), Amityville, N.Y., received a $32 million, five-year contract to supply airborne surveillance radars, spares, support equipment and technical services to the U.S. Coast Guard. The radar’s multifunctionality will augment the Coast Guard’s situational awareness and ability to conduct successful missions.
GCS (www.YourDataSmarter.com), Missoula, Mont., teamed with Sharpe Engineering to build and deliver next-generation streaming analytics solutions based on the IBM InfoSphere Streams platform. The team will focus on real-time analytical processing applications for a variety of vertical markets.
GeoCue (www.geocue.com), Huntsville, Ala., announced the COWI Group, headquartered in Denmark, selected GeoCue workflow management software to manage its light detection and ranging data production operations. The software helps organizations improve workflow efficiency in large-volume geospatial data production environments.
Merrick & Company (www.merrick.com), Greenwood Village, Colo., announced it was awarded a multiyear program with Alyeska Pipeline Service Company, Anchorage, Alaska, to provide surveying services and remote sensing expertise. Alyeska was formed in 1970 to design, build, maintain and operate the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System, which transports oil from Alaska’s Prudhoe Bay to the Valdez Marine Terminal, approximately 800 miles to the south.
Microsoft’s UltraCam Business Unit (www.microsoft.com/ultracam), Graz, Austria, announced its UltraCam Hawk digital aerial camera system was purchased by Bergman Photographic. The system is the first of its kind to be purchased in the United States.
PCI Geomatics (www.pcigeomatics.com), Richmond Hill, Canada, signed a memorandum of understanding with South Korea’s Satrec Initiative to develop commercial relations between the two companies and promote the global use of KOMPSAT satellite imagery. In addition, PCI Geomatics announced it supports data analysis of images from SkySat-1, the first in a planned constellation of 24 satellites from Skybox Imaging; signed an education alliance agreement with Arabian Gulf University in Bahrain; and delivered a GeoImaging Accelerator satellite and aerial processing system to Colombia’s Instituto Geográfico Agustín Codazzi.
Photo Science (www.photoscience.com), Lexington, Ky., announced it was awarded a multimillion-dollar, five-year contract to provide the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration with shoreline mapping services. The contract will support the National Geodetic Survey’s Coastal Mapping Program, Aeronautical Survey Program and Vertical Datum update.
Proteus (www.proteusgeo.com), Abu Dhabi, UAE, teamed with TCarta Marine to offer complete bathymetric datasets from the shallow near-shore coastal zone out to the continental shelf. Depending on water conditions, the Proteus bathymetric data are accurate to depths of 35 meters in the near-shore area, extending several kilometers from the coastline.
U.S. Geospatial Intelligence Foundation (www.usgif.org), Herndon, Va., recently marked the 10th anniversary of its incorporation to support the geospatial intelligence (GEOINT) discipline. USGIF has grown to encompass its annual GEOINT Symposium, regular networking events, technical workshops, training opportunities, educational initiatives and more.
People
Altus Positioning Systems (www.altus-ps.com), Torrance, Calif., appointed Eric Albrecht as sales office manager. Before joining the company, he was a senior account specialist for Bluebeam Software and an inside sales manager at Geodigital International.
Aurora Flight Sciences (www.aurora.aero), Manassas, Va., elected Darryll J. Pines to its board of directors. He has been dean of the A. James Clark School of Engineering at the University of Maryland since January 2009.
AXIS Geospatial (www.axisgeospatial.com), Easton, Md., hired John Lesko II as quality manager. He has 31 years of experience in the geospatial industry.
Dewberry (www.dewberry.com), Fairfax, Va., hired Keith Ludwig as survey department manager in the firm’s Mount Laurel, N.J., office. He has more than 30 years of surveying experience.
MDA (www.mdacorporation.com), Richmond, Canada, announced it will host a range of geospatial webinars in 2014 on spaceborne synthetic-aperture radar applications. Register at https://mda-events.webex.com.
Optech (www.optech.com), Toronto, announced the retirement of J. Douglas Houston, vice president of corporate services. He joined Optech soon after its founding in 1974 and was responsible for many of the company’s advances in light detection and ranging technology.
Products
Arcturus UAV (www.arcturus-uav.com), Rohnert Park, Calif., announced the GeoDragon sensor system has been integrated and flown on its T-20 unmanned aerial vehicle. The system is enclosed in a wing-mounted pod and collects high-resolution 2-D and 3-D imagery.
Ball Aerospace & Technologies (www.ballaerospace.com), Boulder, Colo., completed the SpaceWire Interoperability Test for the Joint Polar Satellite System-1 (JPSS-1) satellite and has begun spacecraft bus integration. JPSS-1 will provide continuity for accurate predictions of severe weather currently provided by the Ball-built Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership satellite launched in 2011.
Blue Marble Geographics (www.bluemarblegeo.com), Hallowell, Maine, released Global Mapper Software Development Kit version 15.1. The release features read/write support for MS SQL Server Spatial databases.
Bluesky (www.bluesky-world.com), Leicestershire, United Kingdom, announced it has been awarded contracts to map heat loss in towns and cities across Britain. Using thermal sensors mounted on survey aircraft, the company will generate color-coded thermal maps that will be matched against addresses to help tackle fuel poverty and improve energy efficiency.
Boeing (www.boeing.com), Seattle, announced its Maritime Surveillance Aircraft (MSA) demonstrator recently completed its first flight to verify airworthiness. The company expects MSA to provide a low-risk, cost-effective maritime surveillance solution for search and rescue, antipiracy patrols, and coastal and border security.
CAE (www.cae.com), Montreal, signed a contract to provide the Italian Air Force with an unmanned aircraft system mission trainer, representing the General Atomics Predator remotely piloted aircraft. The trainer will be used to train Predator pilots and sensor operators.
CompassData (www.compassdatainc.com), Centennial, Colo., announced its archive of commercial ground control points (GCPs) now exceeds 26,000 points. The archived GCPs have been collected in 100 countries and are available for viewing and direct download in a reduced-accuracy format from the company’s website to enable clients to review points and license details before ordering the final data at the accuracy level required.
Contex (www.contex.com), Copenhagen, Denmark, announced the IQ Quattro, a wide-format scanner designed to improve workgroup productivity by reducing the time spent on scanning tasks. Workgroup users can specify local or cloud-based destinations for scans using smartphones, tablets and other devices for instant collaboration.
DAT/EM Systems International (www.datem.com), Anchorage, Alaska, introduced the capability to process high-resolution CartoSat-1 satellite imagery in its Summit Evolution digital photogrammetric workstation. CartoSat-1 was built by the Indian Space Research Organization and produces panchromatic stereoscopic imagery.
Esri (www.esri.com), Redlands, Calif., announced Climate Resilience App Challenge 2014, which calls for developers to create an app using the Esri ArcGIS platform to help communities see, understand and prepare for climate risks. Esri will provide up to three winners with more than $15,000 in cash prizes or a software equivalent. Esri also announced data from Global Forest Watch now are available on Esri’s ArcGIS Online cloud service. By using a portal on Esri’s platform to access Global Forest Watch satellite data and crowdsourced information, people can add maps, datasets and applications to their forest projects and better analyze indicators of forest change.
Esri Press (www.esri.com/esripress), Redlands, Calif., released Mapping the Nation: Supporting Decisions that Govern a People. The book demonstrates how geographic information system technology is being used by the U.S. government to evaluate and respond to social, economic and environmental concerns at local, regional, national and global levels.
GeoSpatial Experts (www.geospatialexperts.com), Thornton, Colo., announced its GeoJot+ field data collection system now runs on Windows Mobile devices. GeoJot+ allows users to capture geotagged photos on mobile devices along with descriptive attribute information for each photo.
Leica Geosystems (www.leica-geosystems.com), Norcross, Ga., and Airborne Hydrography released CHIROPTERA II, a light detection and ranging system for topographic mapping and shallow water surveying in depths of up to 15 meters (49 feet). The system provides detailed maps for environmental and coastal monitoring, infrastructure planning and other near-shore applications.
LiDAR USA (www.LiDARUSA.com), Huntsville, Ala., integrated the FARO FOCUS X330 scanning technology to its ScanLook mobile mapping system. Processed point cloud data and video samples are available.
LizardTech (www.lizardtech.com), Seattle, launched Express Server 9 image-delivery software for compressed raster imagery, including multispectral imagery. The latest version comes equipped with the ExpressZip Web application for exporting imagery straight from a browser.
Northrop Grumman (www.northrop grumman.com), San Diego, announced its unmanned Broad-Area Maritime Surveillance Demonstration aircraft used for maritime surveillance missions by the U.S. Navy surpassed 10,000 combat flying hours supporting intelligence-gathering missions in the Middle East. The aircraft fly 15 missions a month and allow fleet commanders to identify and track potential targets of interest using a specialized suite of surveillance sensors.
Optech (www.optech.com), Toronto, released the HydroFusion Turbid Water Module, a tool that allows the Optech CZMIL Coastal Zone Mapping and Imaging Lidar to collect bathymetry data in water conditions that were previously impossible to capture. The module is an addition to the Optech CZMIL HydroFusion workflow designed to detect and extract bathymetry measurements from turbid, shallow waters and muddy, less reflective seafloors.
Orbit Logic (www.orbitlogic.com), Greenbelt, Md., announced its SpyMeSat mobile app, previously available only for the iPhone, now is available for Android devices. The app provides notifications when imaging satellites are overhead of a user-specified location.
RIEGL (www.riegl.com), Horn, Austria, announced VUX-1, the world’s first survey-grade light detection and ranging sensor (LiDAR) designed for an unmanned aircraft system (UAS). The sensor weighs less than 4 kilograms (9 pounds) and can be mounted onto a UAS to provide a 300-degree field of view and produce high-quality LiDAR data.
Sanborn Map Company (www.sanborn.com), Colorado Springs, Colo., upgraded its 3-D geospatial product line with the addition of the Atlanta, Boston, Miami and Seattle metropolitan areas. Sanborn’s massive collection of 3-D visualization digital data now covers the core downtown areas of nearly 70 major U.S. and international cities.
Trimble (www.trimble.com), Sunnyvale, Calif., introduced InSphere for geospatial information management. The cloud-based platform manages geospatial applications, data and services.