GeoSAR continues to make headlines! Fugro Earthdata recently announced that the Blue Moon Fund decided to utilize GeoSAR’s biomass mapping solution in the Amazon Rainforest. GeoSAR’s unique duel band frequencies (X-band and P-band) provide the perfect solution for estimating tropical rainforest biomass. The X-band reflects of the tree tops were the P-band penetrates through the foliage reflecting the near bare Earth, thus producing landscape-level estimates of carbon content in lowland tropical forests. Project deliverables include digital, high-resolution above-ground biomass estimates for the project area, and a map of total carbon storage for evaluation of REDD related baseline. The work will be funded through a grant extended by the Blue Moon Fund and executed through the fund’s partnerships with Wake Forest University (WFU) and NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). Please stay tuned for more GeoSAR updates!
On the Radar Screen: The GeoSAR Blog
GEOSAR FOR BIOMASS MAPPING SOLUTION IN AMAZON FOREST
June 4th, 2010Let’s Talk About GeoSAR!
May 7th, 2010We 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.
GeoSAR 101 Crossword Puzzle Answers
April 28th, 2010As 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 101 Crossword
April 16th, 2010This 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.
From Snow to Sand: The Benefits of Dual-Band IFSAR
April 1st, 2010The 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.
PurVIEW Expands the GeoSAR User Experience
February 8th, 2010In our last post, we wrote about the release of the updated FugroViewer software. This week, the software news continues. As you may have seen in our recent news release, Fugro EarthData and ESRI Canada announced a strategic partnership and global distribution agreement related to ESRI’s PurVIEW mapping software. Why are we talking about it in this blog? Because the implications of this relationship to GeoSAR users is pretty big.
Over the past year, Fugro EarthData and ESRI Canada have worked to modify the PurVIEW software to accommodate use of dual-band IFSAR data. That means users now have a tool that enables them to photogrammetrically capture accurate 3D geospatial information from GeoSAR data (roads, hydrography, cultural features, etc.) directly into their GIS database, as an ArcGIS extension. In a nutshell, it takes “radargrammetry” to a whole new level; no translations, no missing attributes, all native ESRI formats.
We’ve written before about the importance of technology transfer–putting the full power of the data and its potential into the hands of GeoSAR users. PurVIEW exemplifies our commitment to this notion. Within days of the original announcement, we received numerous requests from GeoSAR customers interested in learning more. The demos are lining up!
If you are among those interested, send us an email: info@geosar.com. You can also learn more about PurVIEW at ESRI Canada’s website. We’ll also be on hand at the ESRI Federal User Conference later this month, so look for us there.
The New FugroViewer
January 20th, 2010Welcome back to On the Radar Screen! As our first entry in 2010, we wanted to spread the word about upgrades to Fugro’s 3D viewing software, FugroViewer. While FugroViewer is a standard deliverable on all GeoSAR projects, it’s also available to anyone (for free!) at www.fugroviewer.com.
The software was originally released in January 2009 as a tool for technical and non-technical users to view, analyze, and communicate 3D geospatial data. It’s been a big hit. Designed for use with photogrammetric, LiDAR, and IFSAR data, FugroViewer now has hundreds of users in business, government, and university settings.
Upgrades to the new version include: enhanced memory management, additional LiDAR format support (including LAS version 2), additional image format support (including ERDAS Imagine).
Give it a try and let us know what you think!
Remote Sensing and Climate Change Part III: The COP-15 Recap
December 23rd, 2009As the last entry in our series about remote sensing and climate change, we offer a rundown on COP-15. Overall, the meeting did not deliver on most of the major aims:
– No deadline for a legally-binding agreement
– No greenhouse gas emissions reduction targets for 2020
– No goal for reducing global emissions by 2050
– No deadline for global greenhouse emissions to reach their peak
– No mention of aviation and shipping (specific sectoral agreement)
But that’s not to say COP-15 was a failure. There was some progress on monitoring, reporting, and verification; REDD; financing; and technology transfer. Details on each of these topics follow.
Monitoring, reporting, and verification: China, India, and other developing nations are to publish their emissions curbing commitments in annexes to a new global agreement. They would then communicate progress to those goals according to internationally agreed upon standards.
REDD: On deforestation, there should be the “immediate establishment of a mechanism, including REDD-plus” to mobilize capital from developed countries for “reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation” and enhancing “removals of greenhouse gas emission by forests”.
Financing: Developed countries are to “support a goal of mobilizing jointly 100 billion dollars a year by 2020 to address the needs of developing countries”. This funding will come from a wide variety of sources, public and private, bilateral and multilateral, including alternative sources of finance. There will also be 30 billion dollars made available over the 3-year period of 2010 to 2012, balanced between climate change adaptation and emissions mitigation. Further, a new UN Framework Convention on Climate Change mechanism called the Copenhagen Green Climate Fund will be established to support funded “projects, programs, and policies” on mitigation, REDD-plus, adaptation, capacity building, technology development and transfer.
Technology transfer: A new technology mechanism will also be established to further accelerate technology development and transfer under a country-by-country approach. (This is in contrast to the existing CDM which takes a project-based approach.)
So what does this mean for remote sensing? Without a binding agreement, it may still be too early to tell. But cautiously speaking, it appears we are headed down a path where REDD (or REDD-plus) will be properly funded, which means the remote sensing technologies we discussed last week will be used to help measure and monitor forest carbon.
This, along with the emphasis on technology transfer holds real promise. By increasing the number of users skilled in the science and application of geospatial data, climate change policy can impact countless other areas of a developing nation’s existence, from infrastructure planning to emergency response to economic development. Now that’s something to be optimistic about in the New Year.