Archive for the ‘General’ Category
Thursday, December 23rd, 2010
With the holidays right around the corner, it’s hard not to notice the severe weather situations occurring world wide. From all parts of the US and across Western Europe, heavy snow fall and freezing temperatures are fulfilling many wishes for a White Christmas this year…as well as creating havoc for Holiday travelers. As we watched the news coverage, my 6-year old turned to me and asked, "Mom, how is Santa going to find those kids’ houses under all that snow?"
That’s when I started thinking about GeoSAR’s ability to "see" through snow and ice
In early fall, GeoSAR took flight in Alaska to begin collecting data for the Alaska Statewide project. GeoSAR is a perfect candidate for mapping large remote areas with rugged terrain, cloud cover, and forest canopy. Accurate elevation data and cloud-free imagery are essential for a broad range of mapping applications in Alaska.
As the data came in, GeoSAR’s science and research team also noticed how GeoSAR’s P-band radar penetrated through the dry snow and ice to reveal the underlying rock and moraine. Although we still have to validate and quantify this capability through further analysis and ground truthing, preliminary results do seem to indicate that snow and ice penetration is in fact possible with GeoSAR. The image below provides a small glimpse of these exciting results! It is a view of a glacier in Alaska as seen through GeoSAR’s X- and P-bands.
To all of our readers, have wonderful holiday season and stay tuned for more GeoSAR news in 2011!
P-band data (left) penetrates through the snow and ice.
Tags: Alaska, GeoSAR, ice, p-band, penetration, snow
Posted in General, Innovation, Science | No Comments »
Monday, November 22nd, 2010
As mentioned a couple of weeks ago we recently exhibited at the GSDI Conference in Singapore, where the theme of the conference was “realizing spatially enabled society”. After some great discussions and reflections from some very prominent folks, like Dr. Dave Coleman, Dean of Engineering at the University of New Brunswick, who is also the new President of the GSDI, we offer that the provision of superior core data or framework data, commonly known as the base map is the first critical step in enabling society. It answers the question of “where am I?”. But more importantly, when the remote sensing technology reduces long data collection cycles by overcoming weather restrictions, it also provides timely, up-to-date information; in other words a snapshot in time that answers the question “at what point in time am I?”. Core data that delivers knowledge of the earth at a given point in time, both above and below the tree cover, powerfully enables all levels of government to make the decisions necessary to improve society.
The GeoSAR X-band imagery provides a “picture” of our world unobstructed by clouds, detailing all the surface features, spatially positioning them so that their complex relationships can easily be determined by GIS analysts and the “everyday” person alike. The GeoSAR X-band digital surface model (DSM) provides an accurate model with which to plan in 3D, a new phenomenon that has awakened society ever since the release of big budget 3D Hollywood movies and TV screens. The GeoSAR P-band imagery, for the first time, reveals the world under the trees, showing all the earth’s formations, man’s paths and all the items normally obstructed by vegetation. The GeoSAR P-band digital terrain model (DTM) completes the total 3D environment started by the X-band. It forms our world in 3D; showing us and leading us accurately and precisely.
We are enabled by answering the question “where are we?” and because GeoSAR collects data so quickly (288km2/minute), we know that the data are temporally related. This adds currency to the core data, in addition to precision and accuracy, which also answers the question “at what point in time are we?”
Our conclusions warrant debate and we would appreciate your thoughts on the role of core data and its place in “realizing spatially enabled society”.
Tags: foliage penetration, GeoSAR, GSDI 12, imagery, p-band, X-band
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Thursday, November 4th, 2010
During our recent travels to Singapore as exhibitors at the GSDI conference, the weather was characteristically warm and humid, and produced heavy cloud cover every hour of every day. No surprises there. However, towards the end of our stay, the city recorded the worst smog since 2003. This was the result of farmers burning off the harvested crops on neighboring Sumatra, mixed in with the warm humid air. The smog was so dense it was difficult see from one side of the street to the other. It occurred to me how difficult it would be to obtain standard geospatial imagery in these conditions; conditions which present no problem for GeoSAR. I also couldn’t help but notice the triple-canopy foliage everywhere that hid so many core infrastructure features. Why in this day of advanced remote sensing technology should a project be severely stalled due to dense vegetation or adverse weather or atmospheric conditions? Users need to be able to obtain accurate geospatial data – both imagery and 3D terrain data – through tropical triple canopy foliage in less than ideal weather conditions. These are a few of the mapping challenges that GeoSAR has successfully overcome.
Night or day, cloudy or clear, GeoSAR collects and delivers the core datasets required to populate your NSDI. Traditional sensors need sunlight for operation, which substantially limits flying time to daylight only and then only when the angle is right, and cloudy and stormy conditions can keep sensors grounded for days, or even weeks. Even panchromatic satellite imagery fails to collect during harsh atmospheric conditions, where clouds and smog hide the earth from these high orbits. Satellite data from radar sensors, while penetrating the clouds offer a much reduced resolution in comparison to GeoSAR; and let’s remember that resolution is an important factor when determining the overall geospatial needs of any NSDI programme.
Night time, bad weather, cloud cover, tree canopy, snow…all of these conditions translate to impossible mapping mission, however GeoSAR tackles these challenges and shows that mapping the impossible is not only possible, but can be done with unprecedented speed and accuracy, anytime, anywhere.
So, are you ready to utilize the world’s largest commercial airborne remote sensing platform? Drop us a line and let us know your needs and we’ll see if we have a solution that fits.
Tags: 3D Terrain, atmospheric, cloudy, foliage, GeoSAR, geospatial data, GSDI 12, IFSAR, NSDI, Singapore, smog
Posted in General, Innovation, Public outreach | No Comments »
Wednesday, October 6th, 2010
GeoSAR continues to show its global reach by making a strong presence at upcoming events around the world. Fugro will be present at the 1st annual Latin American Remote Sensing (LARS) conference in Santiago, Chile October 4th- 8th and will continue the trade show trail joining forces with colleagues from Fugro’s South East Asia offices for the annual GSDI conference being held in Singapore October 19th- 22nd. At GSDI 12, Fugro will be presenting on Spatial Data Infrastructure (SDI) and the advantages GeoSAR provides as a data source in equatorial regions. So what advantages does GeoSAR provide for countries located in equatorial regions that are updating or developing their SDI?
Many countries, large and small, developed or developing, have built what are called Spatial Data Infrastructures (SDI). Geospatial data is a key component in developing a SDI. Geospatial data can be collected from a variety of airborne platforms. However environmental conditions for countries located along the equator can make this data collection process a bit difficult. Consistent cloud cover and triple canopy foliage are a few of the main factors that contribute to the difficulty in data collection. Fugro’s GeoSAR is uniquely designed to conqueror these obstacles. GeoSAR is a dual-band interferometric synthetic aperture radar (IFSAR) system. With each pass of the aircraft, GeoSAR simultaneously maps both surface features (X-band) and bare-earth terrain (P-band). X-band penetrates through the cloud cover collecting all the surface features while P-band penetrates through foliage (as well as cloud cover) collecting the bare-earth terrain. GeoSAR X- and P-band orthorectified imagery and digital elevation models contain all the information needed to produce topographic and thematic mapping at standard 1:25,000 and 1:50,000 map scale.
Please remember to stop by at learn more about Fugro’s GeoSAR and other geospatial services at LARS and GSDI 12. For more information please feel free to email or leave a comment!
Tags: dual-band IFSAR, GeoSAR, GSDI 12, Infrastructure, LARS, SDI, topographic mapping
Posted in General, Public outreach | 3 Comments »
Wednesday, August 4th, 2010
GeoSAR is back on the tradeshow trail! The past few weeks GeoSAR had a strong presence at the ESRI International User Conference in San Diego, California and Map Asia 2010 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. At the ESRI International User Conference, Fugro EarthData’s Megan Blaskovich participated in the poster contest presenting a striking “GeoSAR in 3D” poster highlighting GeoSAR data collected over mountainous terrain in South America converted into stereo-colorized anaglyphs. The 3D anaglyphs were generated using ESRI’s PurVIEW extension for ArcGIS along with a GeoSAR digital elevation model (DEM) and orthorectified radar imagery. To say the least, the GeoSAR poster was quite the attention grabber.
Travelling half way around the world, we joined forces with colleagues from Fugro’s South East Asia offices in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia for Map Asia 2010. Our presence was strongly felt and we were awarded Best Exhibitor at Map Asia 2010. During the conference’s technical sessions, Fugro EarthData’s Roy Hill delivered two compelling presentations on GeoSAR solutions, one on land-use and land-cover mapping, and the other on base mapping using PurVIEW in support of NSDI initiatives. The presentations highlighted GeoSAR’s advantages in equatorial regions where persistent cloud cover, triple canopy foliage, and rugged terrain, make traditional mapping solutions impossible.
In addition to the tradeshows, GeoSAR also participated in a “ground breaking” ceremony in Anchorage AK to mark the beginning of the 5-year Alaska Statewide Digital Mapping Initiative (SDMI). GeoSAR is currently wrapping up acquisition in Alaska for the first phase of the project awarded earlier this year to Dewberry through the US Geological Survey. The event was attended by over 200 representatives of the federal, state, local and tribal governments, as well as numerous members of the press. Fugro staff also took the opportunity to educate people about IFSAR and the benefits that the resulting maps offer to the state.
After wrapping up a very successful month our conference trail continues with planned stops in Africa, Europe and South America. Please feel free to request further information or continue the conversation at info@geosar.com or leave a comment!
Tags: Alaska, anaglyphs, dual-band IFSAR, ESRI User Conference, GeoSAR, Map Asia, stereo
Posted in General | No Comments »
Tuesday, July 13th, 2010
GeoSAR will be gracing the cover of PE&RS this month which will be distributed at the ESRI International User Conference July 12th- 16th in San Diego, CA. Be sure to pick up your copy, view the cover, and read the feature article “Topographic Mapping Using IFSAR Data in a 3D Desktop GIS Environment” written by: L.G. (Jake) Jenkins and Larry Lund.
The cover image represents a Digital Elevation Model generated from GeoSAR’s P-band radar overlaid with X and P-band orthorectified images, all in the ChromaDepth® color scheme. The orthorectified images were filtered to increase homogeneity, reduce speckling and remove artifacts. Waterways were flattened and rendered monotonic. The final images were composed into the scene using ESRI®’s ArcGIS software using a custom color pallet that allows the cooler colors to recede and warmer colors to advance on the eye when viewed using the ChromaDepth® 3-D glasses.
GeoSAR’s X and P-band orthorectified images are arranged split screen to highlight features such as terrain, agricultural fields and mangroves. P-band is located in the upper left as the X-band is located in the lower right. P-band highlights features associated with human settlements such as agricultural fields, irrigation channels, roadways and buildings, even those that may be hidden below the vegetation, whereas the mangroves appear brighter in the X-band imagery because they scatter more of the radar energy back.
GeoSAR is the world’s only dual-band, single-pass airborne interferometric SAR system. Penetrating clouds and foliage, GeoSAR simultaneously maps surface features (using x-band) and near bare-earth elevation (using P-band), making it particularly well suited for equatorial mapping.
Tags: 3D, ChromaDepth, cover, ESRI, Fugro EarthData, GeoSAR, IFSAR, PE&RS, radar
Posted in General, Uncategorized | 1 Comment »
Friday, May 7th, 2010
We are very pleased with the GeoSAR blog reader’s responses to the GeoSAR 101 Crossword Puzzle. If you are just tuning in, please feel free to download the crossword and answers to update your knowledge of GeoSAR. As we move forward in the upcoming weeks we have many exciting developments happening in the world of GeoSAR. You will be able to read about these developments soon in upcoming articles to be published in the June/July issues of PE&RS and Geo-Informatics magazine. In the meantime, we have rolled out a new ad in the April issue of GIM Magazine and we would appreciate your feedback on the ad’s messaging and its overall appearance. If you send us your comments we will send you a GeoSAR token of appreciation!
Finally, if you’re planning to attend the INTERGEO- East conference in Instanbul, Turkey, or the GEONT Tech Days in Washington DC this month, be sure to drop by the Fugro booth to learn more about our unique geospatial solutions.
Tags: Fugro, Geo-Informatics, GEOINT, GEOINT Tech Days, GeoSAR, geospatial, GIM, INTERGEO- East, PE&RS
Posted in General, Public outreach, Uncategorized | 1 Comment »
Wednesday, April 28th, 2010
As requested, please click on the link below for the GeoSAR 101 Crossword Puzzle answers. Thank you to all who played! Please stay tuned for more GeoSAR updates next week!
GeoSAR Crossword Puzzle Answers
Tags: crossword, dual-band IFSAR, GeoSAR, orthorectification, puzzle, radiation, synthetic, topographic mapping
Posted in General | 4 Comments »
Friday, April 16th, 2010
This week we decided to have fun with our GeoSAR blog readers! All the answers to the crossword below can be found within the GeoSAR website and/or previous GeoSAR blogs. Good Luck! Answers will be posted next week. Please click on the link below to download the puzzle and clues! For any questions or hints please feel free to write to info@geosar.com.
GeoSAR Crossword Puzzle
Tags: biomass, clouds, crossword, dual-band IFSAR, foliage, GeoSAR, IFSAR, p-band, radar, topographic mapping, X-band
Posted in General, Science, Uncategorized | 2 Comments »
Thursday, April 1st, 2010
The conference trail grows longer! At last post, we had just returned from the Alaska Surveying and Mapping Conference in Anchorage where GeoSAR Project Manager Steven Shaffer presented the applications of dual-band IFSAR in arctic and sub-arctic environments. Snow penetration/mapping was part of that discussion. This week we are switching gears—rather dramatically—to the Map Middle East Conference in Dubai where last week GeoSAR Client Program Manager Caroline Tyra presented a paper on the ability of radar to penetrate sand for subsurface mapping.
The overall concept isn’t exactly new. Ground penetrating radar (GPR) technology, which utilizes radar bands in the UHF/VHF frequencies from hand-held or vehicular-based equipment, is a well established technique. It’s the use of remote sensing platforms for subsurface mapping that is gaining ground (no pun intended!). Using satellite and airborne methods, it is possible to provide wide-area coverage of subsurface hydrology and structures for use in mineral exploration and development, infrastructure design, and archeological research.
So where is the science? In the early 1980s, the hyper-arid Bir Safsaf region in southwestern Egypt was mapped using Shutte Radar SIR-A and SIR-B to detect geologic structures covered by layers of sand. Discoveries from that research included fossil river systems. More recent studies have shown the ability of very low-frequency radar, such as P-band, to penetrate depths of 15 meters or more depending on soil composition, radar incidence angles, and soil moisture.
Fugro EarthData has confirmed these P-band findings using GeoSAR during a mission over the Mojave Desert near Edwards Air Force Base. Among other things, the results revealed a mostly submerged geological formation. Subsurface mapping is an area we’ll continue to research given its many implications related to water networks, national security, and heritage management. It’s also one more way that we can help clients maximize the value of their GeoSAR data—by unlocking what we call, “the Power of P”.
Want to continue the conversation? Leave a comment or send us an email at info@geosar.com.
Tags: Fugro EarthData, GeoSAR, GPR, ice mapping, radar, remote sensing
Posted in General, Innovation, Public outreach, Science | 1 Comment »
