Last week Microsoft used a talk at TED to unveil some new features for its Bing Maps platform. Goodies included slicker zooming, live georeferenced video feeds, integration of Flickr photos, Worldwide Telescope….a sort of “kitchen sink” of eye candy. But of course it’s only eye candy until professional and consumer focused developers tune it to solve specific problems for work and play. Our editors share what impressed them and consider how this enhanced platform might be used.
Remotely sensed data of Haiti became the basis for updating maps of the devastated capital of Port-au-Prince when a 7.0 magnitude earthquake ripped through the country. Suddenly government, NGO, and volunteers collaborated using imagery provided by multiple sources including the USGS, NOAA, Google, DigitalGlobe, GeoEye and many other geospatial technology firms. The result was not only a tremendous outpouring of charity, but a technological success via social geonetworks and government agencies. Directions Magazine editor in chief Joe Francica provides a synopsis of how remote sensing became the foundation for many of Haiti’s rescue efforts.
As the world turns its attention to Haiti and how to best help the country in this challenging time, we look at a split in the geospatial community around user generated content of the impacted region. Vector map data from OpenStreetMap and Google Map Maker are available for use in supporting rescue and recovery efforts as well as apps for those looking on from a distance. But there are two from which to choose. Does this make for the best possible response?
NPR reported last night about paper from two Dartmouth professors that highlighted, among other things, that ski areas exaggerate snow levels, especially on the weekend. They compared reports from ski areas and government weather data.
An iPhone app for skiers and snowboarders designed to share real time information on snow conditions was released during the study. It basically has forced ski areas to be more accurate.. Once the app came out, those exaggerations dropped, most significantly in ski areas with good AT&T.
Our editors ask: Why is the Open Geospatial Consortium hooking up with the Open Standards Consortium for Real Estate and what should potential users of DigitalGlobe’s Worldview-2 satellite data be pondering before its launch planned for October?
