Details of sessions on:

- Web Services for Geospatial Information
- NGA Initiatives
- The latest technology II - Sensor Technology

Gee, looks like Virtual Earth updates (and more) happened today, including:

The new local search capabilities in Live Search include not only a broad set of expert sources but also broad access to user-generated content from Live Search and from across the entire Web, through searchable user-created collections and Keyhole Markup Language (KML) support.

- Press release with details

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This week is Directions Media's Rocket City Geospatial Conference in Huntsville, Alabama. Today we hosted seven workshops. I was lucky enough to sit in on two: Virtual Earth Technology and Solution Development by Steve Milroy of Advaiya, a Microsoft Partner, and Digital Airborne Sensors by Jay Arnold & Carter Christoper of 3001.

The EPA's Office of Research & Development (ORD) will use a hybrid zero emmission PT Cruiser to study air pollutant concentrations alongside major roadways, as part of its Near Road Research Program. The car will serve as an "advanced mobile measurement platform" fitted with "specialized air quality measurement instrumentation." It's also GPS-enabled to provide "spatial and temporal mapping of air pollutant distributions."

- press release

Dan Charles of NPR followed up on the use of satellite imagery to search for Steve Fossett's plane or any sign of him in the Nevada desert (text and audio are available). The story, which runs on Morning Edition nationally, includes quotes from an Amazon rep and me. The one interesting new bit for those following the effort: Charles calculates imagery for the area to be searched (based on a price quote from GeoEye) might have run $100,000.

This week we explore how the recent disappearance of adventurer Steven Fossett is, despite its sad nature, a teachable moment. We learn the latest on satellite imagery available for the search from DigitalGlobe's Chuck Herring and then explore how we in the geospatial community, educators, and parents can educate, even as we hope for a positive outcome. We also look at hyperspectral imagery, one of the tools in the searcher's toolkit. The podcast is 5 Mb and was recorded on Sept 10, 2007.

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Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer gave out nearly $6 million in state funds and a wee bit ($22,000) went to a new firm with a goal of using former government technology for sensing and mapping.

One firm is S & K Electronics, which will do the sensor hardware, but its TerraEchos Inc. which got the grant. The new company was started by Alex Philp (he's also behind GCS Research). Both companies are located in the MonTEC business incubator, a center aimed at commercializing research from the University of Montana.

The technology in play is the U.S. Navy's “BLUE ROSE”: Battlescape Land Undersea Extensible Rayleigh Optical Scattering and Electronics. It's a very sensitive sensor of sound and movement on the ground which was declassified after 9/11.

The state grant is being matched by a $25,000 Rural Business Enterprise Grant from the USDA. Once complete the vision is to use the final product in security operations.

- The Missoulian