July 2004

The Director's Cut

Another one of the university programs in the Enterprise for Innovative Geospatial Solutions is the Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) at the University of Mississippi. Though few know about the program, it is quickly garnering attention- read on and you will see why.

Attendance at a major sports event at The University of Mississippi disproves the theory that traffic congestion is only a problem in big cities. In actuality, major urban areas are designed to handle high traffic volumes. Rural areas and smaller cities like Oxford enjoy less-hectic traffic most days, but sometimes during normal traffic load days, the drive times (and lunch times) get tedious. And then there are football games. Enter the Intelligent Tranportation Systems (ITS) Project! 

Under a Federal Highway Agency (FHWA) program known as ITS, guided and assisted by the Mississippi Department of Transportation (MDOT), many municipal areas have been granted funds to add ‘intelligent systems’ to the asphalt, traffic lights, painted lines, and turn lanes. Oxford, Mississippi, is one such program, and one of very few rural programs in the nation.

ITS consists of everything that technologically enhances basic road and signal construction – lane sensors, traffic cameras, intersection light controllers, connecting optical cabling, programs to manage traffic flow, traffic operations centers, and so on. It is all about better traffic safety and management for the citizens of an area. The ITS program seeks to make everyone’s journey anywhere in the project region safer, quicker, and even more energy efficient. It is not about building roads – it is about making them faster, safer, and more efficient. 

In 1999 a pilot program, now entering its third phase in 2004, was granted by FHWA and MDOT to the City of Oxford. The University of Mississippi acts as agent and technological base for much of the effort. Early activities focused on putting in place a sophisticated geographic information system (GIS) as a regional data base. The GIS contains streets, digital elevations, space imagery, property boundaries and other features useful to both the city and the public.

When the project finally achieves its goals over the next several years, citizens can check traffic on their computer, can see traffic patterns, download pictures from imagery files showing areas of their own interest, get traffic condition forecasts, and many other services. Emergency vehicles will be routinely assisted in getting through on their missions of life and death. Any serious incidents can be managed more efficiently and the everyday traffic flow will be better facilitated – it will be seen and controlled.

In sum, ITS is adding ‘safe smarts’ to our roadways and travel challenges.

For general information, visit http://oumits.olemiss.edu or www.oumits.olemiss.edu or contact Dr. Hugh Sloan, Principle Investigator for ITS at hsloan@bus.olemiss.edu or 662-915-7414;
for any technical details, contact Dr. Greg Easson the technical Co-Principle Investigator on geasson@olemiss.edu or 662-915-5995.

Graduate Fellow Feature

Cindy Shields, originally from Knoxville, Tennessee, graduated in 2002 with a B.S. in Nuclear Engineering from The University of Tennessee. As a second year NASA/EIGS Fellow, she just recently graduated with a Master of Business Administration from The University of Mississippi in June 2004. Some of Cindy’s many notable distinctions include General Electric Scholar, Golden Key National Honor Society, University Honors Program, Past Treasurer of the Society of Women Engineers, and Past President of the American Nuclear Society. She has accepted a job with BWXT Y-12 in Oak Ridge, TN, as a Nuclear Criticality Safety Engineer.

Under the direction of Dr. Hugh Sloan, Cindy’s project, “The Use of High-Resolution Digital Imagery in Marketing Science: Advancing Market, Trade Area and Consumer Spending Analysis” focused on the new, evolving field of Marketing Geomatic Science (MGS). Her research concentrated on housing characteristics as indicators of property value, which is useful in determining potential retail revenues, optimal retail locations, and estimated profitability (depending on the product or industry). It is proposed that property value may be identified from imagery of habitat areas alone. Such research is important because property value is proportional to family income, and retail potential can be deduced from information concerning property values in a given area. The ultimate goal of the research was that, after model ‘training,’ the imagery alone provided managerially useful updates of change between decennial censuses. This would reveal important urban, suburban, and exurban shifts in the retail center, which is valuable to mall, retail, and other commercial planners.

Seen and Heard… 

From the Summer 2004 issue of Pointe Innovation Magazine: “With tech markets in decline all around us, and layoffs by the hundreds from ‘veteran’ companies in Colorado and in the Silicon Valley, it is not a mistake that NVision and other startups have been successful in their endeavors in Mississippi,” said Craig Harvey, CIO and Executive Vice President of NVision Solutions. “NVision Solutions has been successful due to a number of reasons. Not the least that we were a member of EIGS located on NASA’s John C. Stennis Space Center. The State of Mississippi saw the benefit in fostering companies such as ours and left the stewardship of that support to EIGS. The fact that we are here, stable, confident and still growing after two years is a testament to that stewardship and the foresight of the State of Mississippi and of NASA.”

Company Spotlight

WorldWinds, Inc.

It is that time of year again when Mississippians, particularly coastal residents, are acutely aware of what is going on with the weather. Hurricane season is upon us and NOAA’s 2004 Atlantic hurricane season outlook calls for 12-15 tropical storms with 6-8 becoming hurricanes, and 2-4 of these becoming major hurricanes. Tireless planning efforts are on-going to prepare for the worst – a hurricane making landfall on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. It has happened many times before and it will happen again, but an EIGS company member, WorldWinds, is working to mitigate this kind of potential weather disaster. WorldWinds, Inc. provides highly detailed weather and wave forecast data needed to respond to such hazardous weather. Through their web-based hurricane storm surge and flood forecasting, WorldWinds can provide representations of the coastline, immediate inland areas, and estuaries, which are critical for hurricane preparedness and storm surge modeling.

Using a suite of computer models along with real-time satellite data, , WorldWinds produces forecasts that are both accurate and timely. These weather and wave applications have been developed in coordination with NASA and the U.S Navy. 

Another major product offering by WorldWinds, marine weather data generated 24 hours a day/7 days a week, is being utilized by XM Satellite Radio for their XMWX Satellite Weather service. The breakthrough data WorldWinds provides to XMWX Satellite Weather is marine weather data compiled from a suite of computer models along with real-time satellite data to produce forecasts that are both accurate and timely. WorldWinds also works with WxWorx and XM Satellite Radio to provide off-shore weather information to marine vessels that enhances situational awareness and decision-making capabilities. 

WorldWinds, Inc. was established in May 2000 as a spin-off of User Systems, Inc., one of the seven charter members of Mississippi’s geospatial industry cluster. WorldWinds is a privately held, 8(a) certified business located at the NASA Stennis Space Center in southern Mississippi. They provide customized consulting support and analysis of weather and remotely sensed data including accurate, near real-time, high-resolution weather forecasts. Their forecast applications are used in a variety of markets including: marine transport, oil and gas operations, commercial fishing, coastal hazard and response support, aviation, agriculture, air pollution monitoring, and insurance applications. For more information, visit www.worldwindsinc.com or contact Elizabeth Valenti at evalenti@worldwindsinc.com or 228-688-1468. 

If you have suggestions for future SPOTLIGHTS, please send an e-mail to lstone@olemiss.edu.

IMAGE OF THE MONTH

Saddam's Presidential Palace 
(If you look closely in the top left, you can see where bombs had destroyed some of the palace.)

Imagery collected April 1, 2003
DigitalGlobe

DigitalGlobe, an EIGS Member Company, is making a number of QuickBird satellite images available to media for illustrating major events that occurred during 2003. Showing 60-centimeter resolution, the satellite images offer the world's highest resolution available to commercial industry.

Be sure to visit the EIGS website at

www.eigs.olemiss.edu

UPCOMING EVENTS

August 9-13, 2004
ESRI International User Conference
San Diego, CA. For more information: www.uscregis.esri.com

August 17-19, 2004
Army Corp of Engineers' Geospatial Technology Symposium and Exposition
San Antonio, TX

October 17-20, 2004
Mississippi 911 Coordinators Association Annual Training Conference.
Tunica Resorts, MS. For more information: Phone (662)363-4012

**Stay posted for the release date of the EIGS Annual Meeting.
**If you have any upcoming events that need to be posted, please 
email them to Johnna@pfidc.com.

LEGISLATIVE CORNER

The state Supreme Court intervened to adjourn the Legislature’s special session to end the standoff between Governor Haley Barbour and the House of Representatives. As a result of the ruling, House members were forced to go home. However, Mississippi’s new lawsuits limit bill was passed and signed into law by Governor Barbour on June 16, 2004. Here’s a summary of the legislation:

• Where medical malpractice lawsuits can be filed: In the past, the doctor, nurse, or medical provider could be sued either in the county where the disputed act took place or in the county where the medical worker lives. Now, the bill says the suit can only be filed in the county where the disputed act took place;

• Puts other limits on where people can file lawsuits;

• Provides protection for “innocent sellers” of faulty products;

• Provides some protection for owners of homes and businesses;

• In lawsuits with multiple defendants, each defendant will pay only his share of the damage awards

DID YOU KNOW???

Geospatial technology is among the top three fastest growing career fields in the U.S.? 

SPEAKER'S BUREAU

EIGS is building a national database of speakers who will "champion" the growth of the geospatial industry. If you are looking for a speaker for an upcoming event or would like to suggest a speaker to be included in the EIGS Speaker’s Bureau, please contact: Lisa Stone at (601) 853-4597 or lstone@olemiss.edu. 

EIGS PRESS RELEASES

Concurrent Technologies Corporation Receives Recognition from the Department of the Navy
June 28, 2004 Stennis Space Center, MS – The Enterprise for Innovative Geospatial Solutions (EIGS), a cluster of programs and companies working to further develop the geospatial industry in Mississippi, today announced that member company Concurrent Technologies Corporation (CTC), in its role as an applied research and development organization, investigated various methodologies to meet Marine Corps requirements... ::MORE::

NVision Solutions Provides Free Tutorial for the FFA and 4-H
June 3, 2004, Stennis Space Center, MS – NVision Solutions, Inc. has created a tutorial for precision agriculture that will assist in educating and training America’s future farmers. With precision agriculture as the fastest growing sector of agriculture in North America, the need for educating the next generation of farmers in this technology is critical. The tutorial, developed under a cooperative agreement with The University of Mississippi and NASA, is aimed at introducing GIS, remote sensing, and other geospatial technologies to the future workforce of the nation’s largest employer, agriculture… ::MORE::

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