We are pleased to announce that we have secured funding to keep CLICK up and running until January 1, 2012. At that point in time we hope to have an approved comprehensive plan to maintain and improve upon this kind of lidar coordination, information and data provision as a fully operational program.
We thank you all for your concern and support, and hope we can keep providing these services well into the future.
the USGS Center for LIDAR Information Coordination and Knowledge (CLICK). Our goal is to help facilitate understanding, coordination, data access, communication and knowledge concerning lidar data for scientific needs. We hope you can use the tools we have provided to the fullest to help create information out of lidar data. We encourage you to register to keep abreast of new information posted here! Registering will allow you to post topics and replies, as well as subscribe to a forum to get emailed updates.
Jason Stoker CLICK Director posted in the forum today about the upcoming shutdown:
On October 1st 2011, CLICK will be ceasing all of our operations except for off-line archiving of lidar point cloud data provided to us. All other functions of CLICK- the bulletin board, data viewer and download, links to other web sites and presentations, and our Twitter feed will be shut down. There will be limited access to .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) email for the time being. We are doing this in order to guarantee that in our limited funding environment all lidar point cloud data that we have been entrusted with does not disappear, but is at least kept on life support until hopefully a new lidar program can take over what we started five years ago.
It has been a great ride getting this project up and running. What started out as a way for scientists to get 3-D information into their research exploded into something much more over the years. Ironically, much more than anyone (other than us at CLICK) expected. I hope we were able to provide a mechanism to get many of you connected and educated, and provide a way for people to get lidar data that made a difference for something other than the original collected intent. We aren't sure what our future holds, but we know that lidar technology in all its forms has enough momentum that it will succeed even without CLICK's help.
We wanted to give you a few days notice, just in case anyone wanted to grab any data and/or information from the site before we are forced to shut it off. Who knows, this may not be good-bye but see you soon. I hope it is just see you soon. Either way, it has been fun.
All the best,
The staff of CLICK
by Adena Schutzberg on 09/29 at 11:08 AM |
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In a post to the Washington Post’sPost Carbon blog, USGS Director Marcia McNutt reminded everyone that Landsat data was the basis for the imagery used in Google’s new Google Earth Engine (see my APB post on GEE). As if to say, "hey the USGS had a hand in collecting the data…don’t forget about us," Ms. McNutt exposed the largest glaring weakness of our earth observation program: It doesn’t shout loud enough about its investment, and the ROI on that investment, of remotely sensed data. Since the launch of the Landsat-1 in 1972, satellite data has been under appreciated by the masses and certainly under marketed by the USGS. Until Google Earth.
It is fundamental to the longevity of the the Landsat program that the USGS do a better job of promoting the benefits but has rated a grade of "D" in my book. Since my days working as a contractor for the USGS at the EROS Data Center in the early-80’s, I always felt that if the only people who could afford data were the universities with huge government grants and the oil companies, then the applications of satellite data where never going to be well understood. Thankfully Google Earth changed that. Maybe its only a private company that could afford to turn pixels into pearls…those of the wisdom kind. Because now, the world knows about satellite data. And now, the world will use satellite data. And now perhaps even businesses will use satellite data, like those counting cars in parking lots on Black Friday. Let’s hope word reaches our Congressmen who need to fund the program. Perhaps they will have already learned how to spin the Google Earth Globe to find their house. Maybe GE will turn politicians into pixel heads.
The USGS will host a congressional briefing on how the Landsat program provides impartial, authoritative information about land conditions for use in agriculture, forestry, regional planning, education, and global change research.
Speakers:
Tony Willardson, Western States Water Council
Randy Wynne, Virginia Tech
Bryant Cramer, Associate Director, Geography, U.S. Geological Survey
2325 Rayburn House Office Bldg. Washington, D.C. Friday, March 26, 2010, 10:00 a.m.
Sponsors:
Senator Tim Johnson
Senator John Thune
Congresswoman Stephanie Herseth-Sandlin
Host: ASPRS
by Adena Schutzberg on 03/23 at 09:01 AM |
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Throughout this past week, we’ve continue to add more resources on how the geospatial community is assisting the rescue efforts for the Haitian earthquake (*Updates):
National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) portal - UPDATED (Jan. 22) - NGA has analysts en route to Haiti in support of U.S. SOUTHCOM and Department of State. Deployed analysts will provide geospatial intelligence products and services. NGA has already provided hundreds of products to its SOUTHCOM and State partners. NGA remains committed to making as much information and as many products available as possible—e.g., imagery, terrain maps and others products and assessments—at the unclassified level for use by first responders and disaster response workers. NGA continues to add products to the NGA-earth.org Web site for their use.
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.
