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December 2007 Welcome to The Sensor -- the newsletter of the Enterprise for Innovative Geospatial Solutions (EIGS) bringing you the latest developments from Mississippi’s geospatial industry cluster. Please feel free to share this with friends and colleagues. To subscribe, visit www.eigs.olemiss.edu For further information, or to submit story ideas, please contact Lisa Stone - lstone@olemiss.edu |
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December 2007 Everyone loves a countdown list. So we have put together our own countdown of the Top 20 Significant Events of 2007 for Mississippi’s Geospatial Cluster. The past year certainly was filled with impressive accomplishments. Enjoy the trip down memory lane! 20. Student of Success: Annah Bailey of South Panola High School was awarded first place at the Technology Students Association’s State Conference for her GIS project with Northwest Community College and NVision Solutions, Inc., to improve school bus routes to conserve fuel and reduce pollution. 19. Judging for MAPPS: Dr. Pamela Lawhead, director of the Institute for Advanced Education in Geospatial Sciences at The University of Mississippi, was named to the panel of judges who selected the winners of the 2007 Geospatial Products and Services Excellence Awards by MAPPS. 18. Geospatial has Merit: Michael Koehler, a student at Delta State University, spearheaded the effort to establish a GIS merit badge for the Boy Scouts of America. 17. International Impact: Dr. Joanne Irene Gabrynowicz, director of the National Center for Remote Sensing, Air, and Space Law at The University of Mississippi, was appointed a member of the International Institute of Space Law’s board of directors. 16. Connecting with Canada: Organizations from all over Canada traveled to South Mississippi to attend the 2nd Annual Mississippi-Canada Trade Conference in order to foster international relationships and explore partnering opportunities. 15. Going Global: NVision Solutions signed an international marketing agreement to cross-market geospatial technology in the U.S. and Europe with leading geospatial French companies, Magellium and Pole Star.
14. Surging with
Awards:
Elizabeth Valenti of WorldWinds and Dr. Patrick Fitzpatrick
of Mississippi State University’s GeoResources Institute were awarded
Tech Brief and Software Awards by NASA’s Innovative Partnerships Program
for their collaborative development of an interactive database
containing atlases of storm surge flood levels for the
Louisiana-Mississippi Gulf Coast region. 12. Things Getting Fishy: WorldWinds, Inc., worked with XM Satellite to develop “FishBytes”, a new data product that helps mariners better locate fish. 11. Merging for Growth: Forest One merged with the Westervelt Company and changed its name to Lanworth strengthening its services to the forest products, land management, agriculture, utility, and real estate segments. 10. What a Great Place to Work: Applied Geo Technologies, Inc. (AGT) was named as a finalist in the “Best Places to Work in Mississippi” recognition program by the Mississippi Business Journal. 9. A First in Mississippi: NVision Solutions entered into a Mentor-Protégé agreement with Computer Sciences Corporation (CSC) under the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency (NGA) Mentor-Protégé program. This relationship represents the first NGA Mentor-Protégé agreement in Mississippi. 8. Going for Bronze: CityBusiness newspaper awarded Diamond Data Systems the Bronze medal for 2007 Innovator of the Year for revolutionizing meteorological and oceanographic data systems for the U.S. Navy. 7. Setting National Standards: Digital Quest’s STARS Certification was selected for the Department of Labor’s National Standards of Apprenticeship for Geospatial Technician. 6. Howdy Partner: 3001 was named ESRI's New Business Partner of the Year for the San Antonio Region. ESRI recognized 3001 for its emergency response efforts in the state of Louisiana following hurricanes Katrina and Rita. 5. Go for Launch: Digital Globe successfully launched and deployed WorldView-1, the most agile commercial satellite ever flown. 4. Geospatial Missions as Important as those in Outer Space: EIGS and the IHL Geospatial Council established a geospatial high school adoption program with five high schools around Mississippi. 3. Bringing Home the Bacon: The average annual salary grew by five percent to $57,800 keeping Mississippi competitive with GIS salaries at the national level ($60,050). 2. Software Value Shoots Through Roof: The value of the geospatial software provided through the statewide site license program increased by $12 million to over $35 million. 1. Growing Like a Weed: For the 10th straight year, employment by Mississippi’s geospatial cluster grew. It currently stands at 687 people statewide. We are confident that Mississippi is up to the challenge of achieving equally impressive accomplishments in the coming year. EIGS is looking forward to 2008 and continuing our efforts of growing the impact of the geospatial cluster. From all of us at EIGS, we wish you and your family a happy and safe holiday season. Here’s to continued prosperity in 2008. |
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IMAGE OF THE MONTH
2005
2007 Anak Krakatau volcano spews ash and smoke in the Sunda Strait November 11, 2007. Indonesia's Anak Krakatau volcano lets out a massive roar as it blasts a gigantic cloud of smoke and flaming red rocks hundreds of metres into the night sky.
sources:
Delta State GIS student Drew Fioranelli stands on the Athabasca Glacier in Jasper National Park, Alberta, Canada. Drew completed his required GIT program internship with Telus Geomatics that enabled him to get real-world GIT training with the second largest telecommunications company in North America. These skills in mapping and telecommunications were then brought home to help build Mississippi – Drew built the base mapping system used by Union County 911 – the second county in Mississippi to have such a system.
Congratulations to Diamond Data
Systems on winning the 2007 eWARD for “Best Application of
Technology” from the Louisiana Technology Council and Greater New
Orleans, Inc. The annual award, given to the metropolitan area’s top
companies, organizations or individuals, honors those who compete in
one or more of seven available categories. Of the categories
available, DDS competed in “Best Application of Technology” and
successfully won out over numerous other companies vying for the
honor.
Celebrating GIS Day in the
Mid-South Region |
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December 6, 2007
January 17-19, 2008 Did you know a new office within the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, called the National Applications Office, is now responsible for coordinating requests from civilian agencies for spy satellite information? The National Applications Office will be led on a day-to-day basis by the Department of Homeland Security. A National Applications Executive Committee will be established to provide senior interagency oversight and guidance. The National Applications Office will work with its customers to meet their requirements with the advice and support of three customer domain working groups- Civil Applications Domain Working Group; Homeland Security Domain Working Group; and, Law Enforcement Domain Working Group.
Digital Quest Develops
Geospatial Industry Book Series to Introduce Students to Benefits of GIS
in Business & Industry GIS Book: New Book Underscores The Vital Role Of Geospatial Technology In Homeland Security GIS for Homeland Security, a new book from ESRI Press, chronicles the value of geographic information system (GIS) technology in a growing arsenal of technologies used to protect the nation from natural disasters, diseases, and terrorist threats. The book by Mike Kataoka, an ESRI Press editor and former journalist, describes in nontechnical language how GIS works as a core technology for gathering and analyzing intelligence; protecting critical infrastructure; responding to forest fires, hurricanes, and other catastrophes; and planning for bioterrorism or disease outbreaks. GIS for Homeland Security (ISBN: 9781589481558, 120 pages, $24.95) is available at online retailers worldwide, at www.esri.com/esripress, or by calling 1-800-447-9778. Outside the United States, contact your local ESRI distributor. Visit www.esri.com/distributors for a current distributor list. Interested retailers can contact ESRI Press book distributor Ingram Publisher Services. |
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Vacation Planning Made Easier Through GIS As in real estate, location is everything when it comes to picking the right hotel. Whether looking for a hotel within walking distance to a meeting or right by the beach, it is disappointing to find the hotel isn't where it was thought to be upon arriving at the destination. In addition, searching through dozens of text listings of hotels in a given city can be slow, tedious, and time consuming.
VResorts.com wanted to offer clients the ability to select hotels from a map that was more than a static page with dots on a street map. Giving its clients the ability to choose hotels on a map based on their own specified criteria would empower clients to control their travel experience. The need to find a solution that could offer this powerful browsing experience at the required scale within its growing business led VResorts.com to choose ESRI. The load balancing capabilities of ArcGIS Server made it the obvious choice. Says Doug Rosenberg, VResorts.com founder: "The VResorts.com mapplet leverages GIS into the entire shopping experience, making it quicker and easier to find the hotel you want, in the location you want, with the amenities you want." Web visitors can quickly identify hotel options in a given neighborhood and drill down into individual hotel brochures, which include traveler reviews of the property. Once they have made a decision, they can book the hotel online. Hotel icons are color-coded by price range, and the display can be easily filtered and "decluttered" by price or specific amenities. For example, a user can request to view only midrange-priced hotels that have a pool and room service. Customers can also filter their display to show only hotels from a particular chain. M.A.R.S. Mission Update from Water Valley
At the completion of the M.A.R.S. project in May 2007, WVHS teacher Liz Reynolds stated, “This is not the end of the M.A.R.S. project for Water Valley. This is just the kick-start. We hope to be involved with numerous city and county projects.” However, WVHS faced some challenges in maintaining the momentum started by M.A.R.S. Most of the students who were involved with the spring training either graduated or moved over the summer and there were only two students left from the original team. This past August, a number of new students joined the EAST Lab with the hopes of learning GIS/GPS. This is where the mentoring relationship developed through M.A.R.S. with The University of Mississippi really paid off. Justin Janaskie and Scotty Polston with the Department of Geology and Geological Engineering volunteered to come to Water Valley once a week to train more students.
Thirteen students are currently involved in this latest training which began on November 7th. Now, one of primary goals is to train additional 9th and 10th grade students who can come back each year to work with incoming 9th graders and newly enrolled students who are interested in learning GIS/GPS. “This has been such a valuable opportunity for our students. Justin and Scotty do an amazing job with the students and the students are ready to learn more and to start work on projects. In fact, everyday they are working on the tutorials using ArcMap on the computer and they are going ‘out in the field’ (around campus) practicing what they have learned with the Trimble handheld,” stated Brenda Gulledge, Facilitator for the Water Valley High School EAST Lab.
U.S. OKs Israel-China Spy Sat Deal Israel's Ministry of Defense has secured tacit U.S. government consent for a prospective remote sensing deal with China based on the Eros B, a commercial, high-resolution satellite nearly identical to the Israeli military's Ofeq-5.
California Wildfires Intelligently Fought Using Geospatial Data from
Intermap Technologies
The use of three-dimensional geospatial data is providing value in the fire fighting efforts in California for Intermap Technologies' customers.
Opportunities
and challenges in Indian GIS segment Growth in the use of spatial technologies has secured acceptance for geospatial technology as an effective decision-making tool even by the government agencies. |
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3001 Continues To Embrace
Leading-Edge Geospatial Technologies Fairfax, VA. - 3001, the geospatial company ®, a leading provider of airborne mapping and geospatial data production services, today announced the purchase of the Optech Airborne Laser Terrain Mapper (ALTM) Gemini 167 kilohertz (kHz) topographic LiDAR sensor, equipped with Multipulse technology and Waveform Digitizer. Additionally, 3001 has upgraded its existing Leica airborne sensors, the ALS50 LiDAR sensor and the ADS40 digital airborne pushbroom camera, to their current-generation technology. |
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To
sign up to receive The Sensor, visit www.eigs.olemiss.edu Enterprise for Innovative Geospatial Solutions - 100 Barr Hall - University, MS 38677 |
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click for
enlarged version
During
the spring semester of 2007, Water Valley High School (WVHS) participated in
the M.A.R.S. (Mississippi Area Remapping Strategy) pilot program
co-sponsored by EIGS and the IHL Geospatial Council. The WVHS EAST
(Environmental and Spatial Technology) Lab worked with Northwest Mississippi
Community College (NWCC) and the Department of Geology and Geologic
Engineering at The University of
Mississippi to complete a hydrant location project to provide information
and hard copies of maps to city officials to assist in the event of a
disaster. The WVHS project was the winner of the poster display and project
presentation contest and was awarded the grand prize of a $2,800 Trimble
Handheld GPS system plus software. One of the key components to the success
of their project was the close working relationship with the City of Water
Valley’s Water and Waste Department. 
“We
are very glad that the WVHS EAST Lab students are excited to learn GIS/GPS
technology and that they will be using this technology for projects
benefiting WVHS and the surrounding community,” said Dr. Greg Easson, Chair
of Department of Geology and Geological Engineering at The University of
Mississippi.
