European LiDAR Mapping Forum 2014 Call for Papers

SPAR Point Group, organizer of European LiDAR Mapping Forum (ELMF),  announced a Call for Papers for the 2014 event which will take place 8-10 December 2014 at the Passenger Terminal Amsterdam (PTA) in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. The Call for Papers invites any interested parties to submit abstracts by the deadline of 8 June 2014 using the online submission form.

Papers in the following topical areas are encouraged:

    Airborne, Terrestrial & Bathymetric LiDAR
    Coastal Zone, Defence & Flood Plain LiDAR
    Corridor and Utilities Mapping
    Data Classification, GIS, Data Modelling/Management
    Mobile Mapping
    Technology Development & Trends
    UAV Sensor Platforms
    Systems Integration

Applications Include:

    Civil Infrastructure (e.g. mapping; urban modeling)
    Emergency Services & Disaster Response
    Rural Land and Natural Assets Management (e.g. agriculture, forests, water resources and mining)
    Utility Asset Management

The ELMF Technical Committee will review each abstract and the final program will be announced in September.

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The National Map and National Atlas To Merge

This year, National Atlas of the United States and The National Map will transition into a combined single source for geospatial and cartographic information. This transformation is projected to streamline access to maps, data and information from the USGS National Geospatial Program ( NGP). This action will prioritize our civilian mapping role and consolidate core investments while maintaining top-quality customer service.

The USGS will continue its long history of providing topographic maps, geospatial data and other geographic information by offering a range of scales and layers of geospatial information on The National Map Viewer and through US Topo maps. As a result of the conversion to an integrated single source for geospatial and cartographic information, nationalatlas.gov will be removed from service on September 30, 2014.

"We recognize how important it is for citizens to have access to the cartographic and geographic information of our nation. We are committed to providing that access through nationalmap.gov", said Mark DeMulder, NGP Director.

"We value the National Atlas customers and stakeholders and want to make this transition as easy as possible," explained Jay Donnelly, the National Atlas Program Manager. "We will post updates to The National Map and National Atlas Websites as this transition unfolds, including information on the future availability of the products and services currently delivered by nationalatlas.gov."

Further information is available at: http://nationalatlas.gov/transitionfaq.html

Contact:

Mark Newell
APR
Phone: 573-308-3850573-308-3850

Jay Donnellly
Phone: 703-648-5395703-648-5395

Katrina Burke
Phone: 703-648-5155703-648-5155

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Global Forest Change Map Published Online (VIDEO)

A University of Maryland-led, multi-organizational team has created the first high-resolution global map of forest extent, loss and gain. This free resource greatly improves the ability to understand human and naturally-induced forest changes and the local to global implications of these changes on environmental, economic and other natural and societal systems, members of the team say.

In a new study, the team of 15 university, Google and government researchers reports a global loss of 2.3 million square kilometers (888,000 square miles) of forest between 2000 and 2012 and a gain of 800,000 square kilometers (309,000 square miles) of new forest.

Their study, published online on November 14 in the journal Science, documents the new database, including a number of key findings on global forest change. For example, the tropics were the only climate domain to exhibit a trend, with forest loss increasing by 2,101 square kilometers (811 square miles) per year. Brazil's well-documented reduction in deforestation during the last decade was more than offset by increasing forest loss in Indonesia, Malaysia, Paraguay, Bolivia, Zambia, Angola and elsewhere.

"This is the first map of forest change that is globally consistent and locally relevant," says University of Maryland Professor of Geographical Sciences Matthew Hansen, team leader and corresponding author on the Science paper.

"Losses or gains in forest cover shape many important aspects of an ecosystem, including climate regulation, carbon storage, biodiversity and water supplies, but until now there has not been a way to get detailed, accurate, satellite-based and readily available data on forest cover change from local to global scales," Hansen says.

Check out the 2000-2012 global forest cover change here.

VIDEO of the presentation of Dr. Matthew Hansen


SOURCE University of Maryland Press Release

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Homelessness Analytics Web Mapping Application Launched

The University of Pennsylvania School of Social Policy and Practice (SP2) and Azavea, an award winning geospatial analysis software company, announce the launch of the Homelessness Analytics web application. The new online database gives communities, organizations and individual's critical information on trends in homelessness among the general population and the Veterans, including factors related to homelessness and support services aimed at the homeless population.

According to the National Alliance to End Homelessness, there are more than 633,000 people experiencing homelessness on any given night in the United States. The Homelessness Analytics application, developed in collaboration with the National Center on Homelessness Among Veterans (NCHAV) in the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), with software built by Azavea, aims to enable the general public, researchers and homelessness program planners to fight homelessness by:

1. Understanding the demand for homeless services across time and place nationwide.

2. Identifying gaps between resources and need at a local level.

3. Visualizing the location of community and provider programs alongside data related to capacity, utilization and performance over time.

The application provides a feature-rich interface that offers easy access to data on the size of the homeless population and sub-populations as well socio-economic indicators that are related to homelessness gathered from dozens of data sources such as the American Community Survey, the Centers for Disease Control's Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, the Department of Veterans Affairs Homelessness Program Data, the U.S Department of Housing and Urban Development's Fair Market Rents, the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, the U.S Department of Agriculture's Food and Nutrition Service Program. Users can manipulate these data by exploring maps, creating customized tables, and generating charts. They can download brief formatted reports that provide snapshots of homelessness, resources to address homelessness, and related socio-economic indicators for states and local communities. Data can also be funneled to spreadsheets or databases to conduct independent analyses.

Dennis Culhane, Professor of Social Policy at SP2 and NCHAV Director of Research, commented, "The Homelessness Analytics application provides an innovative new way to examine the problem of homelessness and is a terrific example of what can be achieved through collaborative efforts between academic and government partners. We are very excited about its potential to provide a range of stakeholders with actionable information that can be used to advance local, state and national efforts to prevent and end homelessness."

The Homelessness Analytics application not only provides access to data but also modeling and forecasting features that enable users to simulate expected changes in homelessness given changes in an underlying community level indicator. For instance, a user can model the relationship between median rent levels and rates of homelessness to better understand how changes in housing market conditions might impact homelessness.

"The Homelessness Analytics project is a great example of how the application of geospatial analysis can be used to not only describe a set of social conditions but also model, simulate and forecast the impact of policy decisions. We are excited to be able to combine our experience with design, geographic data and software engineering to addressing the challenge represented by homelessness in the United States," said Robert Cheetham, CEO and President of Azavea.

The Homelessness Analytics application is publicly available at: http://homelessnessanalytics.org/

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Measuring And Mapping Biomass In Northern Hemisphere Forests

 The biomass of the northern hemisphere’s forests has been mapped with greater precision than ever before thanks to satellites, improving our understanding of the carbon cycle and our prediction of Earth’s future climate.

Accurately measuring forest biomass and how it varies are key elements for taking stock of forests and vegetation. Since forests assist in removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, mapping forest biomass is also important for understanding the global carbon cycle.

In particular, northern forests – including forest soil – store a third more carbon stocks per hectare as tropical forests, making them one of the most significant carbon stores in the world.

The boreal forest ecosystem – exclusive to the northern hemisphere – spans Russia, northern Europe, Canada and Alaska, with interrelated habitats of forests, lakes, wetlands, rivers and tundra.

 With processing software drawing in stacks of radar images from ESA’s Envisat satellite, scientists have created a map of the whole northern hemisphere’s forest biomass in higher resolution than ever before – each pixel represents 1 km on the ground.

“Single Envisat radar images taken at a wavelength of approximately 5 cm cannot provide the sensitivity needed to map the composition of forests with high density,” said Maurizio Santoro from Gamma Remote Sensing.

“Combining a large number of radar datasets, however, yields a greater sensitivity and gives a more accurate information on what’s below the forest canopy.”

About 70 000 Envisat radar images from October 2009 to February 2011 were fed into  this new, ‘hyper-temporal’ approach to create the pan-boreal map for 2010.

This is the first radar-derived output on biomass for the whole northern zone using a single approach – and it is just one of the products from the Biomasar-II project.

 Sponsored by ESA, the project also exploited Envisat archives to generate regional maps for 2005.

The future Sentinel-1 mission will ensure the continuity of this kind of radar data at large, but the dedicated Biomass satellite was recently selected to become ESA’s seventh Earth Explorer mission. The mission is set to provide an easier and more accurate way to monitor this precious resource regularly.

The Biomass satellite will complement the Biomasar results, especially for tropical regions.

“Even our new, hyper-temporal approach is not able to penetrate dense multistorey canopies of rainforests with Sentinel-1 or Envisat’s radars. Here, longer wavelengths are indeed needed,” says Prof. Christiane Schmullius from the University Jena, Biomasar coordinator.

The Biomass satellite will deliver, for the first time from space, radar measurements at a wavelength of around 70 cm to delve below the treetops. It will also monitor forest disturbance and regrowth.

SOURCE ESA

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Affordable And Simple Remote Aircraft For Mapping and Surveying Purposes

Design students at Cal State Long Beach are working to overcome the stigma attached to drone aircraft by designing an affordable and simple unmanned aerial vehicle for use in research, emergency services and entertainment.

The Geospatial Research and Mapping project, or GRAM, is a venture of an industrial design senior studio class in collaboration with the geography and anthropology departments.

More than 30 students and staff are midway through designing a prototype of an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) that, unlike other drone models available in the market, is cheap, easy to assemble and can be customized for whatever purpose the user desires, according to senior industrial design student Scott Lee.

Angela Wang, director of publications for the project, said GRAM’s goal is to create a middle ground between very expensive drones and the cheap and ineffective hobbyist models.

 According to Max Beach, who teaches the senior studio class, the project originated after the geography and anthropology departments expressed a wish for an affordable and simple remote aircraft for mapping and surveying purposes.

Beach said he took the idea to his class and the students then expanded the scope of the project so that it could be used to film sporting events, help in search-and-rescue missions, survey forest fires and assist in news media coverage of dangerous or remote areas.

Despite that the prototype is still in its early design phase, Beach said such a product would have a myriad of real-world applications and benefits across many areas.

SOURCE

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Free Bulk Adress Geocoder Tool Online

This is a list of some free bulk address geocoder tools that you can use online.

1. Free Geocoder: Geocode any Address in the United States. You can enter multiple addresses in a single query. [VISIT SITE]

2. BatchGeo - a free bulk geocoding tool for getting lat/long data and mapping multiple locations. It uses Yahoo's new Gecodoing API. [VISIT SITE]

3. Bulk Geocoder - Bulkgeocoder.com is a web application that geocodes address data to latitude/longitude pairs. We assume that you have the data either in an excel sheet or in a database. It is fairly easy to export and import from excel and any database to a csv (comma separated values) file. You upload the csv file to bulkgeocoder.com and map the data - so that we know the address, city, zip and state from other data in your file. Once this is done the file is geocoded and you are sent a link to verify the data. Upon verification, you can choose to make payment and download the data. The data is the same csv file that you have uploaded, but with two additional columns for the latitude and longitude values. [VISIT SITE]

4. Geocoding Tool - This is a simple GOOGLE MAPS and BING MAPS geocoding and reverse geocoding tool. [VISIT SITE]

5. Texas A&M Geoservices Geocoder - The services available allow a user to process a single address (parsed or non-parsed) as well as a database of records in batch. [VISIT SITE]

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NCALM Seed Proposal Call

The National Center for Airborne Laser Mapping (NCALM), funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF), invites proposals from graduate students seeking airborne laser swath mapping (ALSM) observations covering limited areas (no more than 40 square kilometers) for use in research to earn an M.S. or Ph.D. degree. Proposals must be submitted online.

For background information and complete guidelines for submitting a proposal, please see www.ncalm.org.

The deadline date for proposal submission is November 12, 2012.

For more information contact NCALM@EGR.UH.EDU or call 832-842-8881.

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WorldMap Open Source Software - Publish Your Map To The World

The Center for Geographic Analysis at Harvard University developed a free software called WorldMap that everyone around the world could use to explore, visualize, edit, collaborate with, and publish geospatial information.

WorldMap provides researchers with the ability to:

- Upload large datasets and overlay them up with thousands of other layers
- Create and edit maps and link map features to rich media content
- Share edit or view access with small or large groups
- Export data to standard formats
- Make use of powerful online cartographic tools
- Georeference paper maps online (http://warp.worldmap.harvard.edu)
- Publish one’s data to the world or to just a few collaborators

The WorldMap platform is Open Source software (here is the open source code) which means the source code which makes it work can be examined, improved upon, and extended by researchers and developers around the world. Because it is open source, new functionality can often be added rapidly at relatively low cost.

Build your own mapping portal and publish it to the world.

Getting started video:

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Trident Analyst Software from Trimble

Trimble introduced today a new version of its terrestrial mobile mapping office software — Trimble Trident Analyst 4.7. The software is designed to effectively manage and interpret high-resolution digital images and large point clouds, and automatically extract features from Trimble's MX Mobile Mapping and Survey systems. These capabilities allow land mobile data to be transformed into geospatial intelligence.

The announcement was made today at INTERGEO 2011, the world's largest conference on geodesy, geoinformatics and land management.

Trident Analyst 4.7 software takes advantage of the additional random access memory offered by 64-bit operating systems to enable loading and handling of very large terrestrial mobile mapping datasets, including production-size point cloud data. 64-bit processing allows Trident Analyst users to load, display, edit and analyze billions of points and thousands of high-resolution digital images quickly and effectively.

The latest version incorporates new quality control tools for efficient review of positional and orientation accuracy, and quick validation of boresight parameters and registration results using passive objects in the mapping environment. In addition, new 3D point cloud classification capabilities increase productivity and enhance usability throughout corridor mapping and survey workflows.

Trident Analyst is designed for robust object positioning, measurement, and data layer creation—ideal for the analysis of geo-referenced imagery and laser scanner data. Industry-leading functions can accelerate projects and increase productivity, including key automated processes such as surface modeling, roadway sign and pole detection, lane marking detection, edge and breakline detection, road geometry and clearance measurements.

"In combination, Trimble's MX Mobile Mapping and Survey systems and Trident Analyst software provide a turnkey solution tailored to the needs of mapping and surveying organizations," said Katherine Sandford, general manager of Trimble's GeoSpatial Division. "This offers a complete workflow—from data collection to processing and information creation—designed for compatibility and without third-party software repurposed from other application fields."

Availability

The Trimble Trident Analyst software suite is bundled together with Trimble's MX1, MX3 and MX8 sensors and will be available through Trimble's land mobile mapping and survey distribution channel. Customers with a current maintenance contract will receive the upgrade at no additional cost.

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Ukraine New land Cadastre Law

Ukraine Parliament approved the law "On the State Land Cadastre". JULY 7, the parliament approved the law (#8077) to provide for the legal, economic and organisational framework of activities in the area of the State Land Cadastre, says report.

The State Land Cadastre represents a unified state geographic system of data on lands located within the State Border of Ukraine, their target designation, use limitations, as well as data on quantitative and qualitative valuation of lands, their value, and on distribution of lands between their owners and users.

The State Land Cadastre includes the following data on lands within the boundaries of territories of administrative and territorial units (Autonomous Republic of Crimea, oblasts, cities of Kyiv and Sevastopol, rayons, cities, towns, villages, and city rayons):

* name of the administrative and territorial unit;
* description of boundaries of the administrative and territorial unit;
* size of lands within the boundaries of the administrative and territorial unit;
* full name of adjacent administrative and territorial units;
* information on documents representing the ground for establishing or changing the boundaries of administrative and territorial units;
* information on categories of lands within the administrative and territorial unit.

The scope of information of the State Land Cadastre about the qualitative features of the lands within the territory of the administrative and territorial unit shall be established by the Procedures on Maintenance of the State Land Cadastre.

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Mapping Earth's Gravity with GOCE Satellite

ESA’s GOCE satellite has reached its ambitious goal of mapping Earth's gravity with unprecedented precision. In two short years, the sophisticated satellite has collected the measurements needed to record the 'geoid' reference shape of our planet.

"GOCE is one of ESA’s most innovative missions. The number of 'firsts' it embodies led to many challenges for our scientists, engineers and more than 40 companies involved in building the satellite," said Volker Liebig, Director of ESA's Earth Observation Programmes.

"I am happy to announce that their hard work and dedication have paid off. The satellite has recorded the measurements necessary to enable us to produce a high-resolution map of the 'geoid' that is far more accurate and has a much higher spatial resolution then any other dataset of this kind."

The geoid is the shape of an imaginary global ocean dictated by gravity in the absence of tides and currents. It is a crucial reference for accurately measuring ocean circulation, sea-level change and ice dynamics – all affected by climate change.

The planned mission of the Gravity field and steady-state Ocean Circulation Explorer (GOCE) satellite, launched in March 2009, included two six-month measurement periods. On 2 March it completed its 12th month of gravity-field mapping.

In the coming weeks, these data will be calibrated and processed for scientists to create a unique model of the geoid.

Although GOCE has completed its planned mission, the low solar activity during the last two years led to a lower fuel consumption than anticipated.

Based on this fuel saving, the good health of the satellite and the excellent quality of its data, ESA decided in November 2010 to extend the mission until the end of 2012.

"By nearly doubling the mission’s lifetime, GOCE data will provide an even better gravity field map and geoid products," said GOCE Mission Manager Rune Floberghagen.

"Once the gravity models are completed, they will be made available to all users, free of charge in line with ESA's data policy."

The new GOCE products and the science derived from these products will be presented and discussed at the Fourth International GOCE User Workshop held at the Technische Universität München in Munich, Germany, on 31 March–1 April.

Media representatives will be invited to attend the event. For more details, please see the programme at http://www.goce2011.org.

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Mapping Food Deserts from Michigan State University

Two Michigan State University professors have developed interactive maps that offer a visual perspective of urban food deserts. By using GIS (geographic information systems) technology, they are showing, rather than simply telling, how urban residents are losing access to fresh produce and balanced nutrition.

Phil Howard, assistant professor of community, agriculture, recreation and resource studies, and Kirk Goldsberry, assistant professor of geography, conducted their research in Lansing. They found that many supermarkets have closed their stores that serve urban areas and have moved to the suburbs. They also showed that Michigan’s state capital is a model for what’s happening to food environments around the country.

The maps give residents, city officials and community organizations an outreach tool to visualize their food environment. Having a highly detailed method to examine each city’s food environment provides a graphic illustration of areas where produce is abundant and where it’s lacking, Howard said.

Video:

Complete story here.

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Philippine Geohazards Map for Region 2 to Complete

The Philippines Mines and Geosciences Bureau of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources Region 2 (DENR-MGB) has reported that its office has already completed the geohazards mapping of four of the five municipalities of Region 2, according to the Philippine Information Agency.

In an interview with Chit Piligan, MGB Supervising Geologist, she explained that geohazards mapping involves both the identification of areas of the country that are prone or susceptible to various geologic hazards, like rain-induced landslides, floods, flash-floods, and other natural events.

Piligan said the geohazards maps of the provinces of Quirino, Nueva Vizcaya, Isabela and Cagayan are now available at their office and copies of which have been given to the concerned local government units (LGUs).

“The geohazards maps of Quirino and Nueva Vizcaya were already turned over to their provincial government for dissemination to the municipalities and barangays,” the supervising geologist added.

Piligan likewise said that they also conducted Information & Education Campaigns in the Department of Education and in some LGUs.

The MGB has recommended that residents of some barangays of Nueva Vizcaya particularly in Kayapa be relocated because their barangays are landslide and flashflood-prone areas.

The geologist however stressed that they can not blame the residents if they resist to vacate the areas because of fear of losing their livelihoods.

Meanwhile, Piligan said they are presently working on the completion of the geohazard mapping in the province of Batanes.

The Geohazards Mapping is an important component of the government’s disaster management and mitigation program in order to reduce the loss of lives and properties brought by natural disasters.

It is also important for land use planning (CLUPs), land development and the emerging concern on climate-change adaptation.

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ZY-3 Chinese Mapping Satellite in 2011

China's first high resolution, stereoscopic mapping satellite for civilian use will be launched during the second half of 2011, the State Bureau of Surveying and Mapping said Thursday.

The bureau said the ZY-3 will be sent into space by the Long March-4B carrier rocket from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in north China.

The satellite is expected to "provide steady and reliable data sources for surveying and mapping on the scale of 1:50,000."

ZY-3 is to provide mapping to be used in wide-ranging sectors such as disaster prevention and reduction, water conservancy, agriculture, forestry, environmental protection, urban construction and planning, communications and national defense.

The bureau is also working with the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation on the research and development of the next generation of satellites after the ZY-3.

The ZY-3 project was kicked off in March 2008. Three ground stations in Beijing, Kashgar in far west Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region and Sanya in the southernmost island province of Hainan, will receive and transmit satellite data.

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Digital US Topo maps, available

“US Topo” is the next generation of topographic maps from the U.S. Geological Survey. Digital US Topo maps are designed to look, feel, and perform like the traditional paper topographic maps for which the USGS is so well known. However, in contrast to paper-based maps, US Topo maps provide technical advantages that support faster, wider public distribution and enable basic, on-screen geographic analysis for all users.

“The public’s high regard for USGS topographic maps stretches over a century,” said Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar. “Because Survey maps consistently describe our nation’s entire landscape, they are the standard mapping reference for scientists, land managers, property owners, and every variety of outdoor enthusiasts. So I am very pleased that this new type of USGS topographic map not only preserves the best qualities of older topographic maps but now, in a popular digital format, can better serve both specialised users and the general public.”

Arranged in the familiar 7.5-minute quadrangle format, US Topo maps are available free on the Web. Each map quadrangle is constructed in GeoPDF format from key layers of geographic data — orthoimagery, roads, geographic names, topographic contours, and hydrographic features — found in The National Map, a nationwide collection of integrated data from local, state, federal, and other sources.

“These digital maps can be as simple or as sophisticated as the need dictates, easily customised on the spot”, said USGS Director Marcia McNutt.

US Topo users can turn geographic data layers on and off as needed, zoom in and out to highlight specific features or see a broader context, and print the maps — in their entirety or in customised sections — on a wide variety of printing devices. File size for each digital US Topo 7.5-minute quadrangle, about 15-20 megabytes, is convenient for most computer users. Electronic analytical tools are also available for free download.

Mark DeMulder, Chief of the USGS National Geospatial Program said “Here is how US Topo differs from most other electronic maps:

- Nationally consistent data quality assured to high standards
- Looks and feels like legacy paper USGS topographic maps but has technical advantages
- Can be used on the computer or printed to scale
- Down loadable free from the on-line USGS Store
- Users can select from various reference systems, e.g lat-long, UTM (Universal Transverse Mercator)
- Direct “mash-up” capabilities with Google Maps
- Continuous evolution and incorporation of additional data layers.”

Further information about how to download and use US Topo, currently available coverage, and the timetable for production of US Topo maps can be found online at: nationalmap.usgs.gov/ustopo.

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Online mapping scheme to mark public and private land

According to 3 news, the murky issue of recreational access to public and privately owned land is about to become much clearer with the creation of an extensive online mapping system.

The new scheme was outlined in a draft strategy out today and aims to stop meandering hunters, fishers and walkers from going where they are not welcome.

“This walking access proposal will be about clearly marking where people have every right to be,” says Agriculture Minister David Carter.

The extensive map will include contact details for all land owners with the aim of making it much easier to seek permission for access.

“The farmers have said all along they wanted to be asked for permission, but it’s damn hard often to find out who the owner is,” says Bryce Johnson.

Farmers say if they know who is on the property, they can better protect their business and the visitors.

“If the farmer doesn't know they're there, or he's let a mate go hunting, it can lead to accidents and death and a very expensive Search and Rescue operation,” says Chris Sundstrum from Federated Farmers.

The new strategy won't be much help to those heading to the outdoors this summer though. The commission will spend the rest of the year in consultation and hopes to have a pilot scheme for the new mapping system in place sometime next year.

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Indian large scale topographical maps of coalfields

The Cental Mine Planning and Design Institute (CMPDI), an arm of the Coal India Limited, signed an MoU with the Survey of India for preparation of the large scale updated topographical maps of 28 major coalfields of the country, based on remote sensing technique.

The project, for which the Coal India Limited has funded Rs 117 crore, will be jointly implemented by CMPDI & Survey of India and will complete in five years. This is said to be a major task for the CMPDI to expedite coal exploration, mine planning, environmental management and infrastructure development in the coalfields area to match the coal-based energy demand of the country.

CMPDI CMD A.K. Singh said topographical maps will be prepared for about 26,000 sq km area on 1:5000 scale with 2 m contour interval in digital GIS formats. Large scale digital topographical maps will be useful for detail coal exploration, mine planning, infrastructure planning, railway siding for coal transportation, rehabilitation and resettlement and environmental management planning as well as integrated master planning of the coalfields.

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Urban Mapping updates Routeserver

Urban Mapping, the provider of location-rich content for interactive applications, announced advanced features for Routeserver, the company's standard-setting multi-modal routing engine that supports walk, drive, bus, train, subway and other modes of transportation. Developed with pedestrian navigation in mind, Routeserver can be ported to specific hardware and platforms, supporting true "on board" navigation. Additionally, the routing engine can be deployed for large-scale interactive publishers or as a hosted solution for rapid implementation.

The new enhancements to Routeserver enable a range of advanced capabilities such as dynamic re-routing incorporating real-time mass transit events, narrative customisation to support multi-lingual or editorial conventions and "cognitive transfers," a new option in route customisation that recognises varying perceptions of wait times.

With the combination of Routeserver and its URBANWARE Mass Transit database, which provides highly detailed data for over 100 pedestrian-specific attributes, Urban Mapping enables an advanced pedestrian navigation experience for over 70 systems in the United States, Canada and Europe.

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National HIV/AIDS Atlas: Mapping HIV cases

The National HIV/AIDS Atlas provides a powerful new tool to the public, health care professionals, policy makers and elected officials to access and map local, state and national data in order to see how HIV/AIDS is impacting their community.

What is the National HIV/AIDS Atlas?
For the first time, the Atlas presents county-level prevalence rates (based on the reported number of people living with HIV (non-AIDS) and AIDS in 2006) in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, depicting the intensity of the disease, rather than the magnitude.

Why was the Atlas created?
Mapping HIV/AIDS is an important step in stemming the tide of the disease. The Atlas was developed to increase awareness of, and public access to, HIV/AIDS data so that communities better understand the reality of HIV/AIDS in the United States today.

What does the Atlas show?
The Atlas allows users to focus on HIV/AIDS statistics by age, gender, and race/ethnicity, where available. It also allows users to see their congressional and state legislative districts overlaid on top of the county-level data.

You can visit the site here.

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