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.

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!

Last week, we traveled to Anchorage, Alaska, where we met up with some of our local staff and exhibited at the Alaska Surveying and Mapping Conference. It’s a place we’ve been coming back to often as Stakeholders have been working long and hard over the past couple of years to address the state’s pressing needs for accurate and up-to-date topographic mapping. Given the size, geographic location, and challenging terrain, airborne IFSAR has been deemed the ideal solution for generating accurate and detailed digital elevation data.

But elevation isn’t the only application for Alaska Stakeholders. This point was illustrated in a well-received talk by Fugro EarthData’s Steven Shaffer. In his presentation, “Airborne IFSAR Mapping in Alaska: Solutions for a Statewide DEM and Beyond,” Steve explored many additional use cases for dual-band IFSAR in particular, including those related to forestry, soil studies, and snow/ice mapping. If you weren’t able to attend the conference but are interested in learning more about what we presented, let us know and we’ll make sure to answer your information needs.

This week, it’s back to Washington, DC, International Conference on Commercial Remote Sensing! We hope to see you there.