Wednesday, October 21. 2009

First American Spatial Solutions Confirms the Company is NOT the Provider of Google’s Parcel Layer

In a conversation with Scott Little, First American Spatial Solutions (FASS) vice president, he confirmed that the company was not the provider of the parcel layers now seen in Google Maps. He wanted to dispel some of the rumors that have been circulating and feels that Google’s introduction of parcels will raise awareness of the potential applications that can now be developed with having these data available.

When asked if FASS had been in discussions with Google about supplying them with the data, Little said, “We have had general discussions for a pretty good amount of time. With that said, our focus has always been on providing a premium product…keeping it fresh and I think that for those reasons we’ve looked at this through different colored glasses. There is obviously room for multiple people to exist in the market. What Google is doing is very positive."

Tuesday, October 20. 2009

First WorldView-2 Imagery from DigitalGlobe

DigitalGlobe has released the first imagery available from WorldView-2.

A Geographer at the State Department

At the GEOINT Conference, Dr. Lee Schwartz spoke about his job as the geographer for the U.S. Department of State, and, in particular, working with a new administration. "I"m often asked what is my job like with the change of administration," said Schwartz. He said that he is faced with making GEOINT relevant to the most senior policy makers because it is still a challenge. Not many of them appreciate the technology.

Schwartz also noted how the geospatial community is somewhat inward focused. "We as a community are far too self congratulatory. Too often we are moving things form GIS geek to GIS geek without following up on which applications are the best used." His department worked with NGA during the Tsunami in Bande Ache, Indonesia and with the Chinese for the Sichuan earthquake hailing these as landmark data sharing agreements. In the case of the Chinese earthquake there was a post operation celebration, but afterward Schwartz said he never found out how imagery was used indicating that cooperation was good but follow-up was poor.

Finally, Schwartz had an interesting observation about geospatial technology. "We shouldn't forget the power of a good map," commented Schwartz. "The use of [the term] COP (common operational picture) drives me crazy because its really nothing more than a good map." His department also supports a variety of non-governmental organizations and Schwartz is particularly adamant that the depiction of international boundaries, maritime boundaries and the like are extremely important to field operations in far parts of the globe.

Monday, October 19. 2009

Cost of Softcopy Photogrammetry Comes Way Down

I saw a quick demo of Intergraph’s ImageStation which provides image analysts the ability to view in stereo. Intergraph has provided a solution for softcopy photogrammetry for many years. What is different however is the price point. The combination of stereo glasses, a video card using OpenGL technology, a single high-resolution monitor and software will cost under $10K. In the early days of Intergraph's Z/I Imaging softcopy photogrammetry solutions, the price exceeded $100K. 

Quote of the Day: "... an eclipse of collection platforms" - Jim Clapper, Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence

Brig. General (ret.) James Clapper, the Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence alluded to the multiple types and numbers of unmanned airborne vehicles (UAV's) being deployed in the skies. "We’re going to create an eclipse with all the collection platforms with all that we’re doing in Afghanistan." Clapper is also the former director of the National Geospatial-intelligence Agency.

He also made these remarks about the anticipated budget crunch for intelligence funding: "How do we get the military intelligence and DNI [Director of National Intelligence] budgets to coincide? Because OMB told us to." Clapper remarked that he is trying to do more to synchronize those two programs.

#GEOINT Conference: Takin' it to the Streets

Among the dark suits at GEOINT 2009 was a familiar face seen for the last few years at this conference. Jeff "Skunk" Baxter, a national security consultant and ex-Doobie Brother band member, opened the conference with a rendition of "America the Beautiful" on guitar. The juxtaposition of Baxter at a geospatial technology conference always seems incongruous, to say the least, but as a fan of the Doobies, it's always great to see him.