Stanford Geophysicists Map What Lies Beneath Southern California Using High-Resolution Sensors

BY ZACHARY ROMANO
Researchers at Stanford University are identifying hidden dangers beneath Earth’s surface in Southern California by measuring body waves from human activity on city streets and sidewalks. Body waves are the seismic waves that only move through the interior of a solid, as opposed to “surface waves,” which only move on the surface. Throughout Long Beach, seismic sensors had been placed around the area for routine monitoring of earthquake and tremor activity. Using these devices, the researchers calibrated them to filter out background noise waves and hone in on these body waves. The maps generated from the seismic data visualize more than half a mile beneath the Earth’s surface.

For nearly 15 years, scientists have worked towards developing the technology that could effectively filter out the unwanted background noise. Previously the technology was quite costly and the seismic sensors lacked the precision to measure the low amplitudes of body waves, especially against the interfering noise. Body wave tomography itself, however, has been used for decades to track earthquakes and explosions. With the help of geospatial and GIS technologies, the maps visualizing these body waves are quite insightful. In Long Beach, the maps accurately show the location of the Newport-Inglewood Fault. The research team also discovered the rock types adjacent to the fault line which could be useful information to certain practitioners.

THOUSAND OF SEISMIC SENSORS (RED DOTS) WERE PLACED AROUND LONG BEACH, CALIFORNIA FOR THE STUDY. THE BLUE STAR INDICATES THE REFERENCE RECEIVER. MAP: NAKATA ET AL, 2015.

Southern California can certainly benefit from this new tool to understand the subsurface of the Earth. Two large seafloor faults, the Santa Cruz-Catalina Ridge and Ferrelo Fault, are presently shifting and have the ability to create an 8.0 earthquake with tsunami potential 90 miles of the coastline. The DailyMail reported that “the ridges, valleys and other signs they found along the Santa Cruz-Catalina Ridge Fault suggest that the fragmented, blocky crust has been lifted upward, while also slipping sideways like the plates along the San Andreas Fault do.” Researchers can create noise images in real-time and use time-series analysis of these images to have a more detailed knowledge of fault lines and their movement, even on a small-scale.

BY MAPPING OUT THE SEISMIC WAVES GENERATED BY HUMAN ACTIVITY, RESEARCHERS ARE ABLE TO CREATE A MAP OF UNDERGROUND CONDITIONS. IMAGE: NAKATA ET AL, 2015.

Another practical application deals with the observation of sinkholes. This can allow researchers to see what areas are at high risk of sinkholes and, in turn, minimize the destruction and number of victims. With a very dynamic crust in California, this higher resolution seismic sensor can now inform emergency preparedness strategies and allow experts to better understand the timeline of a major earthquake.

More:


Nakata, N., Chang, J. P., Lawrence, J. F., & Boué, P. (2015). Body wave extraction and tomography at Long Beach, California, with ambient‐noise interferometry. Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth, 120(2), 1159-1173. Retrieved from: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/2015JB011870/full

Source: GIS Lounge - Maps and GIS

Forest satellite data & mapping project led by Ecometrica Gets $1M from GEF to Conserve Mexico Biodiversity Hotspot

An international project led by sustainability software and data firm Ecometrica and funded by the UK Space Agency's International Partnership Space Programme (IPSP) has helped local organisations in Mexico secure funding of over $1 million from the Global Environment Facility (GEF) to support conservation of the El Ocote Biosphere Reserve, an internationally recognised biodiversity hotspot in the state of Chiapas.

The IPSP project is providing new satellite data and mapping technology to local organisations to assist in the monitoring of land use change, fires and forest health. Satellite derived information will be analysed and delivered to local organisations via a network of regional Earth Observation (EO) labs, built on Ecometrica's cloud-based technology.

Project director Elsa Esquivel, of Mexican NGO Ambio, said: “Ecometrica's satellite data and mapping technology is helping to us to identify areas where community activities to promote forest-friendly agriculture are succeeding, or running into problems. Without this our team on the ground cannot continually cover the more than 100,000 hectares of the reserve and the surrounding areas of influence. It will also help us to report on the effectiveness of our actions to the GEF, as part of an ongoing cycle of monitoring, evaluation and learning. We also hope that the satellite data and mapping system will be expanded to other parts of Chiapas to help communities mitigate and adapt to climate change.”

Ambio is leading the El Ocote project and has been working with indigenous communities in and around the Biosphere Reserve for more than seven years. The GEF funding will ensure that Ambio has enough staff to liaise with local farmers over activities that impact on the forest – such as crop burning – and to tackle illegal activities, including logging.

Dr Richard Tipper, executive chairman of Ecometrica, said: “We are delighted that GEF has chosen to back this project and that IPSP's input was a catalyst for that decision. The satellite derived information should help to ensure the intervention is effective and efficient, because it allows conservationists on the ground to know what is happening and to deploy their resources accordingly in the challenging terrain.”

Dr Tipper said the IPSP is a great example of a programme that helps businesses with advanced technologies build relationships in countries that would not normally benefit. Earth observation technologies have great potential to support sustainable forestry, agriculture and natural resource management around the world.

“Through the IPSP we are showing that UK companies have solutions that are relevant to the very real challenges faced by developing and emerging economies,” he said.

Dr Tipper said El Ocote is hopefully the first of several local conservation and development activities in Mexico and Brazil to be assisted by the EO Lab technology.

Distributed by The Communications Business on behalf of Ecometrica and Ambio.

For further information, please contact:

Denise Hannestad
The Communications Business
Tel +44 131 208 1500
Email: Email Contact

About Ecometrica

• In October 2015 Ecometrica was appointed by the UK Space Agency to co-ordinate a major new international project to set up a network of virtual regional Earth Observation (EO) Labs to develop suitable products for the forest sector.
• Ecometrica will spearhead the use of satellite data for forest monitoring across the globe. It will initially work with Brazilian space research institute INPE and Mexican research group ECOSUR, as well as several of the UK's leading forest EO researchers and experts.

Ecometrica’s team of recognised experts in sustainability accounting and reporting has been named as one of the world’s top Sustainability and EH&S brands by industry analyst Verdantix. Ecometrica has unrivalled experience in environmental assessments and natural capital accounting, and the Ecometrica Platform brings clarity to environmental and natural resource challenges by combining earth observation data from satellites with local information and business intelligence.

Ecometrica supports all aspects of sustainability planning, operations and reporting by businesses and public organisations. Its sustainability data and software services are available worldwide through offices in Boston, Edinburgh, London and Montreal.

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Five Applications of Satellite Data

BY SBL

Remote sensing data provides much essential and critical information for monitoring many applications such as image fusion, change detection, and land cover classification. Remote sensing is an important technique to obtain information relating to the Rarth’s resources and environment.

What popularized satellite data are the easily accessed online mapping applications like Google Earth and Bing Maps. From being simply able to find “where is my house” these applications have helped the GIS community in project planning, monitoring disasters and natural calamities, and guiding civil defense people.

Remotely sensed satellite images and data are comprised of spectral, spatial and temporal resolution. Spectral statistics is the substance of remotely sensed image classification. The main aspect which influences the accuracy of ground object is spatial resolution. Temporal resolution will help in generation of land cover maps for environmental planning, land use change detection and transportation planning. Data assimilation and analysis of urban areas using medium resolution remote sensing imagery is mainly concentrated on documentation of built up areas or for judgement between residential, commercial and industrial zones.

There are hundreds of applications for satellite imagery and remotely sensed data. From the pioneering Landsat and SPOT imagery and when nations used to use information derived from the satellite imagery for spying on each other under the guise of scientific experiments, industry has grown in leap and bounds and today every sphere of life, government decision making, civil defense operations, police, you name the sphere of life, every one of which is influenced by satellite imagery in particular and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) in general.

SBL has been active in the field of satellite imagery processing and has got in-house expertise to handle any kind of sensor and product demands. Our projects have helped clients world over to help in having a better say in sustainability management and environmental assessment and management. To illustrate the benefits, here are five uses of satellite imagery and data.

1. Optimizing solar panel energy output with irradiance values.
Sustainable living has lot of interest in solar energy and it interest is growing rapidly across the world. Finding out location for placement of solar panels and If you were to choose a single position anywhere on Earth to install a solar panel, then we have to use Global Horizontal Irradiance (GHI) map. GHI measures the rate of total incoming solar energy at the Earth’s surface in watts per square kilometer. Epochs of satellite data (derived from GOES and Meteosat) has created this data with a standard error of only 5%.

GLOBAL MAP OF GLOBAL HORIZONTAL IRRADIANCE (GHI). MAP: SOLARGIS.INFO

2. Generating Earth’s surface elevation with the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission
The SRTM digital elevation data, produced by NASA originally, is a major breakthrough in digital mapping of the world, and provides a major advance in the accessibility of high quality elevation data for large portions of the tropics and other areas of the developing world. From the Global Land Cover Facility:


The Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) obtained elevation data on a near-global scale to generate the most complete high-resolution digital topographic database of Earth. SRTM consisted of a specially modified radar system that flew onboard the Space Shuttle Endeavour during an 11-day mission in February of 2000. SRTM is an international project spearheaded by the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA), NASA, the Italian Space Agency (ASI) and the German Aerospace Center (DLR).

MAP OF CHILE GENERATED WITH TOPOGRAPHY FROM SRTM. MAP: RAVL, 2008, WIKIMEDIA COMMONS. 

3. Extracting mineral deposits with remote sensing based spectral analysis
During the pre feasibility and feasibility stages of the mineral exploration it is very essential to know the mineral potentiality of the area under consideration. In such scenario satellite remote sensing based lithological mapping, geological structural mapping, geomorphological mapping etc and its integration in a GIS platform will enable geo scientist to map the mineral potential zones. This will be further enhanced with the help of spectral analysis of satellite image bands to identify and map hydro thermal alteration zones which a indicators of mineral availability. This will enable exploration geologist to confine his geo physical, geo chemical and test drilling activities to high potential zones.

GEOLOGY MAP FROM SBL.

4. Providing a basemap for graphical reference and assisting planners and engineers

The amount of details that orthoimagery produces using high resolution satellite imagery is of immense value and provides an extreme amount of detail of the focus and surrounding areas. Maps are designed to communicate highly structured message about the world. As maps are location-based, aerial imagery supports people to orient themselves.

AERIAL IMAGERY FROM SBL.

5. Disaster mitigation planning and recovery
The result of a natural calamity can be calamitous and at times difficult to assess. But a disaster risk assessment is essential for rescue workers. This has to be prepared and executed quickly and with accuracy. Object-based image classification using change detection (pre- and post-event) is a quick way to get damage assessments. Other similar applications using satellite imagery in disaster assessments include measuring shadows from buildings and digital surface models.

References
Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) – Global Land cover Facility (GLCF)

Solar Radiation Maps: Global Horizontal Irradiation (GHI) – SolarGIS.info

About the Author


Anil Narendran Pillai – (Vice President – Geomatics @ SBL) Mr. Pillai heads the GSS (Geospatial Services) domain at SBL. He has worked in the digital mapping, remote sensing, and GIS industries for over 23 years. He has 23+ years experience managing and coordinating GIS projects and 12 years senior management experience. He has extensive experience in all aspects of aerial and satellite imaging technology and applications. He has utilized remotely sensed satellite and airborne imagery for a variety of environmental applications including site location analysis, forestry, telecommunications and utility corridor mapping. He has a strong background in management of GIS and Photogrammetry imaging projects to support Government and private industry needs.His Passion lies in Need Analysis and Documentation, Topographical Mapping (ArcGIS), Spatial Data Management, Integrity and Security, GIS Data transformations and projections from multiple sources, Image Processing Software user testing and documentation, Project Coordination and Tech. Support, Inter-agency communication and support, 3D Data Generation and Management,Project Management, Digital Photogrammetry, Satellite Image Processing, Pre-Sales Presentations.

See more about SBL Geospatial services http://www.sblcorp.com/geospatial-services

Source: GIS Lounge - Maps and GIS

Researchers: Satellite Imagery Could Boost Wildlife Conservation

BY ELIZABETH BORNEMAN


An increased number of scientists, conservationists and technology scions are banding together to use their various strengths to benefit conservation efforts to track global biodiversity. An essay in a recent issue of the journal Nature proposes that by using satellite imagery, scientists can track animal species and other valuable pieces of ecological information and create a greater picture of conservationism for that particular issue. “Satellites offer a way to collect information in places that are relatively inaccessible to scientists, because of their remoteness or because of political instabilities,” says Nathalie Pettorelli, co-author and researcher for the Zoological Society of London. “It also allows you to collect information in repeatable, standardized, and verifiable ways, for the whole planet.”

Tracking global biodiversity is no easy feat. Using technology to promote conservation efforts can help scientists gather data in locations that are too remote, inhospitable or unsafe for them to work. Satellite tracking, while still a tremendous undertaking, can cut down on research expenses and overall costs in the long run.

Although conservationists around the world are taking advantage of advances in satellite tracking technology, there needs to be an agreed upon set of metrics by which scientists can quantify their results. This would allow for a consistent set of information that could be put together and analyzed collectively. Conservation targets have already been set by a global panel of scientists; now it’s time for those targets to be worked towards and met.

Unfortunately many ecological metrics can’t be observed using satellite imagery. Other factors like green space, forest fire risk and damage, and animal migrations can be tracked. The popularity of crowd-sourced mapping and the increased access to public satellite imagery takes away some of the challenges keeping scientists away from using satellite tracking technologies.

SATELLITE IMAGERY AND DATA FROM LANDSAT 8 (LEFT) AND THE SHUTTLE RADAR TOPOGRAPHY MISSION (CENTER) SHOW LAND COVER (RIGHT) ON THE SENEGAL–GUINEA BORDER IN 2014. SOURCE: SKIDMORE ET AL, 2015.

There’s also the matter of synchronizing tracking units to ecological measurements. Oftentimes quantifying what is seen in a satellite image is difficult, especially when different ecological bodies disagree on what’s been seen. Satellite imaging is dependent on the definition of forestland, erosion, habitat, and other terms that scientists use to track these massive amounts of global environmental data.

Collecting global data isn’t as difficult as it once was. The whole reason we can have weather reports for countries around the world and track weather events from place to place is because scientists can use satellites to track weather systems as they move around the globe. Scientists can use what they know about the spin of the earth, the effect of the jet stream, and other information to chart the weather we experience every day.

Although this technology has a long way to go as far as quantifying ecological and environmental data, the work already being done for conservation efforts using satellite tracking imagery is impressive. The future holds increased connectivity between science, conservation and technology as it brings together global conservation work.

More:

Skidmore, Andrew K., Nathalie Pettorelli, Nicholas C. Coops, Gary N. Geller, Matthew Hansen, Richard Lucas, Caspar A. Mücher et al. “Environmental science: Agree on biodiversity metrics to track from space.” Nature 523 (2015): 403-405. Retrieved from http://www.nature.com/news/environmental-science-agree-on-biodiversity-metrics-to-track-from-space-1.18009

Source: GIS Lounge - Maps and GIS

eeGeo Launches Global 3D Mapping Platform to Visualise Location-Based Services and Interiors

New Geospatial Meta-Mapping Platform Contextualises Data for Interiors and Places

eeGeo, the UK-based 3D mapping company, today launched its geospatial meta-mapping platform which enables organisations to build interactive mobile applications to deliver content and location-based information. The eeGeo platform enables businesses across a range of sectors to easily visualise complex data sets on a geospatially accurate representation of the interior and exterior world. The platform is disrupting the industry through enabling customers to deliver engaging, compelling and differentiated 3D map experiences.

“The world is a three dimensional space and our platform accurately represents this as a global 3D map, transitioning seamlessly from outdoors with detail of all terrain, roads and landmarks, to the interior of buildings, right down to office, desk or counter level,” said Ian Hetherington, CEO, eeGeo. “We are able to visualise any space in intricate detail, including airports, shopping malls, museums, offices, stadiums and whole campuses. We enable location-based services in the widest sense, encompassing many vertical markets. With our solutions, businesses can extract meaningful understanding and insight from big data, all on one single integrated platform. Our most powerful differentiator is our ability to engage and retain users, a legacy of our video game roots.”

Hetherington continues, “This is a platform of true scale; to date we have built the entire USA, Britain, Canada and Japan, plus a host of iconic cities around the world. Building whole countries is carried out in response to customer demand, the process taking only a matter of weeks to create a country-wide, cloud-based map. This dynamic, interactive world enables our clients to highlight key destinations and places of interest specific to their brand, enriching the end user experience. eeGeo has helped clients within the facilities management, travel, tourism, local media and advertising sectors to successfully launch applications to better visualise data, increase engagement with customers and differentiate as brands.”

“This is no mean feat – after four years of intensive development we are really excited to bring eeGeo to market. The applications and use cases of the eeGeo platform are endless. In an increasingly mobile-first world it provides the ability to present multiple real-time data feeds within one visually stunning app, enabling end users to visualise, understand and act on information instantly and intuitively,” Hetherington added.

“Often businesses have the ability to attract users but struggle to maintain engagement and retention levels,” said Jeremy Copp, Chief Commercial Officer, eeGeo. “Presenting information and services on our platform maximises user acquisition, engagement and retention. As an example, our users have been found to interact with the application nearly three times longer than the sector benchmark and over-index on the frequency of use. And, NTT DoCoMo has successfully attracted millions of consumers after launching its 3D Map application delivered using the eeGeo platform.”

The cloud-based software as a service (SaaS) platform can ingest raw map and GIS data from any source, creating integrated 3D maps of any building interior, city or country. The platform delivers high performance, real-time streaming of the 3D maps over wireless networks, eliminating the need to store map data in the application or on the device. Streaming is optimised for mainstream mobile devices and low bandwidth networks to deliver a dynamic, interactive experience to all users. The platform software development kit enables customers to develop applications on a full range of device architectures including smartphones, tablets, browsers, PCs and virtual reality headsets.

The eeGeo 3D geospatial meta-mapping platform provides its customers with the following advantages:

Clear differentiation from competitors through the ability to fully customise the appearance and functionality of the map, specific to brand preferences
The ability to map the interior and exterior of buildings, providing an instantly recognisable environment for orientation and information discovery and an engaging user experience
No restrictions on business models, data or service types means that customers have the freedom to include all types of localised search and advertising results, to including display advertising and dynamic content
Transparent and cost effective, per-active-user, monthly pricing models enable customers to control the services margin without any surprises
Recce, the eeGeo proof of concept application, can be downloaded through the Android and iOS app stores. Recce provides users with insight into the eeGeo experience and is an example of some of the platform’s capabilities. Users can explore and navigate their way through major cities in 3D such as London, San Francisco and New York, whilst discovering key points of interest around them.

Source

Geointelligence – Empowering Geospatial with Intelligence

BY SANGEETA DEOGAWANKA


With major Geointelligence and Homeland Security Conferences around the corner (see list at the end of this article), there is an increased focus on the emerging discipline of Geospatial intelligence.

Geospatial intelligence has been an indispensable tool in military operations for a long time. What is less known is its evolution as an interdisciplinary approach for commanders, humanitarian responders and homeland security planners to visualize events in a three-dimensional context.

The evolution of Geointelligence
As world events witnessed a shift towards international terrorism with impacts on regional conflicts, there arose a demand for detailed knowledge of the area of conflict. The need for powerful visualization in real-time brought about a fundamental shift in the doctrine of war-fighting. Imagery intelligence thus became core to military operations, as much as strategic knowledge of the area, the culture, society and the environment. What emerged was the convergence of geospatial, imaging and intelligence for a geo-driven decision making. The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA), responsible for “providing timely, relevant, and accurate imagery, geospatial information, and products to support national security” thus became the proponent of Geointelliegnce. As extreme climate patterns, natural disasters and disease incidence became important concerns, Geointelligence came into use for strategic planning and combat operations.

Today, Geointelligence has changed the way you respond to events, as an organization, first responder or department with security and military concerns. This has been well documented in the Bin Laden operations or the fight against spread of Ebola.

Geointelligence defined
Geointelligence is a discipline and an emerging profession that involves use of technology, critical information and analytical rigor for a decision advantage in domains of humanitarian response, business intelligence and strategic defense or security

The standardized definition from National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) is as follows:

“the exploitation and analysis of imagery and geospatial information to describe, assess, and visually depict physical features and geographically referenced activities on the Earth. GEOINT consists of imagery, imagery intelligence, and geospatial information.” Title 10 U.S. Code §467

As the word suggests, Geointelligence = Geo + intelligence, where ‘Geo’ refers to the Geography or space attribute (physical, locational and human) and ‘intelligence’ is the unique tradecraft applied to the discipline. Intelligence is described as “information that has been analyzed and refined so that it is useful to policymakers in making decisions – specifically, decisions about potential threats to our national security”.

What is unique to Geointelligence
GEOINT moves beyond the realms of traditional GIS to incorporate the unique process of a specialized skill, termed ‘tradecraft’.

Tradecraft is the unique cognitive process, that applies location insights and activity based intelligence for a decision advantage. It makes use of culture based knowledge and techniques, standardized tools, analytical skills and various technological methods to anticipate events or actions.

COMPONENTS OF GEOINTELLIGENCE

In other words, the ‘tradecraft’ component empowers the geographic visualization of the operating environment with other information, reasoning and analysis. It is a cognitive process that applies intelligence to spatial relationships and processes, to unlock the full potential of geospatial technology. Thus, Geospatial intelligence integrates access and collaboration of various areas of expertise like signal intelligence, human intelligence, imagery intelligence, and so on.

GEOINT – Benefits
Geospatial technology alone cannot answer questions that call for additional knowledge and sense-making of multiple geographic entities and their relationships. For instance, standalone maps and imagery of tsunami affected areas cannot support humanitarian response. What is needed is information in real-time, analysis of the affected areas with respect to the local society (density of population), environment (proximity to water body, low lying areas), sensitive locations (nuclear installations), satellite imagery (real-time picture of affected sites), community structures (schools, halls), healthcare facilities, on-site responder agencies, crowdsourced information, social media inputs and so on.

GLOBAL MAPPING OF EMERGENCY STOCKPILES[UNITED NATIONS OFFICE FOR THE COORDINATION OF HUMANITARIAN AFFAIRS –OCHA]

The following benefits of Geointelligence have made it a specialized discipline and a professional calling:

• Competitive advantage from insights (trade secrets of cosmetic product, decision about establishing new sea port, mission planning of a non-profit organization)
• Improved productivity of core assets (swine flu health centers, defense installations, production facilities of chemical plant)
• First responder support to humanitarian operations
• Creation of a common architecture for multiple agencies to share geospatial information for mission statements
• Ability to map human movements, across time, space and terrain for tactical planning
• A powerful tool for civic planning, humanitarian missions, industrial surveillance, precision war, conflict resolution, homeland security
• Logistics support for military operations, disaster response, civic emergencies, and so on.
• Provide insights to help avert dangers, counter conflicts, predict opportunities or adapt to shifting conditions.
• Intelligence analysis using data from other INTs (SIGINT, HUMINT, MASINT, IMINT,OSINT) for additional context to the problem under consideration.
• Use of advanced sensor technology and multiple types of geospatial data to help visualize events. For instance, intelligence applied to a map of terrorist hideouts, data mined from geo-tagged tweets, satellite image of the terrain, drone surveillance and GPS tracking of cell phone devices in use; makes possible real-time mapping and analysis of terrorist movements across space and time.

Applications

EBOLA OUTBREAK RESPONSE – REGIONAL CONFIRMED AND PROBABLE CASES 29.10.14 – GAR

• National Policymakers (National Security Council, Prime Minister’s Office of any government)
• Military (Navy, S. Special Operations Command)
• Defense (National Defense and the Canadian Armed Forces; DOD)
• Intelligence Agencies (CIA, NSA)
• Emergency response systems, First Responders (WHO’s Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network – GAR)
• Homeland Security (S. Department of Homeland Security, Australian National Security Service)
• Law Enforcement (Calgary Police Service, Coast Guard operations)
• Global Humanitarian Agencies (N.’s OCHA)
• Human Geography Mapping (WWHGD)

List of Geointelligence Conferences 2015-2016:
9th Annual National Homeland Security Conference (UASI 2015) – San Antonio, TX, United States, June 9-11, 2015

GeoIntelligence Asia 2015 – New Delhi., India, June11-12, 2015

The GEOINT 2015 Symposium (USGIF) – Washington, D.C., June 22-25, 2015

8th Annual Geospatial Defence & Intelligence (APAC 2015) – Singapore, September 2015

Homeland Security events – Upcoming events and conferences across the world

Defence Geospatial Intelligence Conference 2016 – January 18th – 20th, 2016, London, U.K.

Resources:
Clark, A. J., Democratizing Geospatial Data for Disaster Response, June 12 2014, [web]

Doty, John M., Geospatial Intelligence: An Emerging Discipline in National Intelligence with an Important Security Assistance Role, The DISAM Journal, Spring 2005 [web]

Geospatial Intelligence (GEOINT)Basic Doctrine, Publication 1-0 September 2006, National Geospatial Intelligence Agency [web]

Hannay, P., Baatard, G., GeoIntelligence: Data Mining Locational Social Media Content for Profiling and Information Gathering, Edith Cowan University Research Online, 2011 [web]

Special Acknowledgement:

Dr. Todd S. Bacastow, Professor of Practice for Geospatial Intelligence, The Pennsylvania State University MOOC

Source: GIS Lounge - Maps and GIS

Some Common Spatial Analysis with Raster Data

BY CAITLIN DEMPSEY MORAIS


Spatial Coincidence
Spatial coincidence involves overlaying different raster datasets in order to create a results layer that weighs the coinciding factors from each of the datasets. For example, finding the optimal location for a specie’s habitat based on the type of land cover and location of water.

Proximity
How close to other geographic phenomena is a feature. The distance can be shown as a straight distance or based on a factor like travel time.

Surface Analysis

Surface show the measurements of a continuous layer such as elevation, rainfall, or temperature. More: Statistical surfaces.

DIGITAL ELEVATION MODEL (DEM).

Dispersion

Dispersion models the movement of a geographic phenomenon such as an oil spill or a wildfire.

Least-cost Path Analysis

This surface shows the costs of traveling from one point to the next. Cost can be a function of time, distance or other criteria that is defined by the user. More: Overview of Least Cost Path Analysis.

Source: GIS Lounge - Maps and GIS

Find Out Where the Water Goes

The Nighttime Flow Analysis solution, a COTS configuration of the ArcGIS platform, helps water utilities identify areas with underground leaks and other sources of nonrevenue water loss.

Nighttime Flow Analysis measures gallons per minute (GPM) of water consumption for an area at night, when households typically use significantly less water. It compares that rate to the expected flow estimated using industry standards for minimum nighttime uses—such as the use of toilets, washing machines, and outdoor irrigators—to determine potential nonrevenue water loss, or water flows that are not reaching a meter.

This solution is a collection of services, maps, and apps supported on ArcGIS 10.3 that helps utilities find and fix underground leaks and other sources of water loss that might go undetected for months. Rapidly identifying and eliminating unnecessary water loss provide better service, more efficient distribution to customers, less wear on treatment equipment, and longer-term value from capital-improvements spending.

Over the long term, Nighttime Flow Analysis can improve utility operations and capital planning by reducing high water loss, preventing service disasters, and reducing the time needed to make repairs from months to weeks or days.

Read the accompanying article in this issue "Tennessee Utility Proactively Stops Water Leaks" and learn how Tennessee's largest water and wastewater utility, White House Utility District (WHUD), uses other ArcGIS for Utilities solutions to manage its 600-square-mile service area.

For more information on Nighttime Flow Analysis, visit solutions.arcgis.com/utilities/water/help/nighttime-flow-analysis/.

Source: ESRI

Telogis Apps for iOS Transform the Lives of Mobile Workers

From its annual Telogis Latitude business conference, Telogis, Inc. is revealing its new lineup of iOS apps that bring innovative functionality and fun to the mobile business environment. The user experience (UX) enhancements to Telogis' award-winning connected vehicle and mobile workforce apps take advantage of the unique tools and features available on iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch. Apple recently announced it is working with a select group of business software and solution providers, including Telogis. Telogis software connects its customers' vehicles, equipment and people, and automates processes that once required pens and clipboards -- or worse, clunky, dash-mounted hardware. Apps such as Telogis Compliance ensures the accuracy of government-regulated driving hours (Hours of Service) and mandated vehicle inspections while Telogis Navigation provides specialized truck-specific directions that keep drivers safer and more well-informed, ultimately improving overall job satisfaction. Telogis' ground-breaking gamification app for drivers called Telogis Coach invites friendly competition by scoring the driving behaviors, safety or productivity metrics, and also allows drivers to be identified and recognized for doing well and setting great examples for teammates."Working directly with Apple to build extraordinary user experiences into apps like Telogis Coach brings our customers a level of ease, familiarity and functionality that makes work on an iPad, iPhone or Apple Watch more productive and more fun," said David Cozzens, chief executive officer at Telogis. "The mission-critical nature of connecting everything in a business to the Internet of Things

-- vehicles, people and customers is a given, and we continue to innovate by delivering the same high-quality iOS user experience to enterprise customers that they expect on the consumer side." Telogis connected vehicle apps for iOS represent a mobile extension of its Software-as-a-Service (SaaS)-based platform that includes a comprehensive suite of applications that enable companies with fleet vehicles, equipment and large numbers of people who work outside the four walls to stay connected to the company in order to improve safety and productivity while identifying areas where gains in efficiency can be made.Over the past few years, Telogis has partnered with some of the world's largest vehicle and equipment manufacturers -- including Ford, General Motors, Hino, Mack, Volvo, Isuzu and Manitowoc Cranes -- to connect vehicles and equipment and the people who use them for work by building its software applications in at the factory level.Telogis Latitude is an annual gathering of some of the world's most well-known mobile enterprises, Telogis' automotive OEM partners and other industry executives taking place this week at the St. Regis Monarch Beach Resort in Dana Point, Calif.About TelogisTelogis, Inc., the platform for connected intelligence, is dedicated to enhancing the value of its customers' businesses through intelligent integration of location technology, information and services. Telogis was established in 2001 and is headquartered in Aliso Viejo, Calif., with offices in Europe and Latin America as well as development centers in Austin, Texas; Toronto; and Christchurch, New Zealand. Telogis' products and services are used and distributed in more than 100 countries worldwide. 

To learn more about Telogis, visit www.telogis.com,
follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter @Telogis, like us on Facebook or call toll free at 866-TELOGIS (866-835-6447).

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Map of the Middle-Earth with Tolkien’s annotations found

By Aleks Buczkowski


“The Lord of the Rings” trilogy is definitely one my top favourite novels. Actually “The Hobbit” was the first book I’ve ever read and the map of Middle-Earth was one of the first maps I’ve carefully studied piece by piece. Who knows, maybe this is why I got interested in cartography…?

This is why when I heard that news, my heart started to beat faster… A Middle-earth map with annotations by J.R.R. Tolkien has been recently discovered in a copy of the LOTR book owned by illustrator Pauline Baynes, whose coloured maphas been published in the 1970 edition of the famous novel.

While working on the map Baynes had been in touch with Tolkien who gave her precise comments. He corrected place names, provided extra ones, and gives Baynes suggestions about the flora and fauna of the Middle-Earth. Hobbiton, he notes, “ is assumed to be approx at latitude of Oxford”.

The map is currently on exhibit in Oxford and can be yours for the asking price of £60,000. Blackwell‘s, the book seller currently in possession of the map, calls it “perhaps the finest piece of Tolkien ephemera to emerge in the last 20 years at least”.

Take a look:

Bottom right corner of the map (Blackwell’s Rare Books)Top left corner of the map. (Blackwell’s Rare Books)Top right corner of the map. (Blackwell’s Rare Books)Bottom left corner of the map (Blackwell’s Rare Books)

source: Guardian and Geoawesomeness

The Growth and Decline of Urban Agglomerations in Germany

Innovative maps that illustrate the most recent socio-demographic urban changes in the major city urban agglomerations in Germany have very recently been produced in a joint project of the School of Geography and the Environment at the University of Oxford and the Research Institute for Regional and Urban Development Dortmund (Germany).
The Research Institute for Regional and Urban Development (Institut für Landes und Stadtentwicklungsforschung, ILS) investigates new social processes, especially those involving urbanisation in Germany and Europe. This includes economic, social and structural processes that are compared and monitored over time to gain a better understanding of the underlying developments. Testing state-of-the-art visualisation techniques are a significant part of this effort. This was the focus of a collaboration between researchers of the University of Oxford and the ILS Dortmund which resulted in the development of a series of highly effective maps called “cartograms” that provide new insights in the changing geographies of city regions in Germany.

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The method used in the research creates gridded cartograms in which equally-sized grid cells are resized according to number of people in any area. The resulting map looks as if the reader has placed a magnifying glass on the most densely populated regions while sparsely populated areas are much smaller than they appear on a land area map. This allows additional spatial information such as socio-demographic data to be shown in their relation to population. Using such visualisations dynamic changes, such as shifting populations, can be analysed in their spatial as well as their human context.

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Approximately half the population of Germany lives in the 30 major urban German agglomerations, such as Berlin, Hamburg, Munich (München), and Cologne (Köln) but also in smaller cities including Münster, Freiburg, Leipzig, and Dresden. The gridded cartogram helps to understand the demographic processes and development that occurred there in recent years, revealing some distinct trends of re-urbanisation in some of the most densely populated areas.
Examination of the average annual change in the populations of the selected urban agglomerations highlights the regional differences in these trends. Contrary to the national population decline, which is predicted to continue, 26 out of the 30 major agglomerations show population growth between 2008 and 2013. In 25 of these areas population growth in the city centre is even higher than in its suburban area. This can be seen as evidence of a very recent trend of re-urbanisation in these places.

One particularly notable trend is the dynamics in smaller cities such as Freiburg and Münster, as well as Dresden and Leipzig in east Germany. In addition to high rates of re-urbanisation, the suburban areas often have stagnating or even declining populations.
The Ruhr area agglomerations are distinctively different from the other areas described in the overall summary of trends. The stagnating populations in the centres of Dortmund and Essen are complemented by considerably declining populations in their surrounding areas.
Two cartograms depicting growth and decline have been produced as separate maps. These reveal, population decline in the settlements in the Ruhr area that is larger than in all other urban agglomerations put together. Growth, in contrast, is spatially spread much more evenly.
Amongst the influencing factors or growth and decline are developments in social structures, employment as well as changes in land development in these regions. How these factors are interconnected and influence each other is part of further research within this project that aims at establishing a long-term geomonitoring of these regions in order to better understand these new forms of urbanisation in Germany that are currently only just beginning to emerge.

Average annual change of employees
between 2008 and 2013

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Average annual change of benefit recipients

between 2008 and 2013

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Average annual change of residential and transportation areas
between 2008 and 2013

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Average annual change of commercial areas and open spaces
between 2008 and 2013

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The content on this page has been created by Benjamin Hennig and Stefan Kaup with the support of Tanja Ernst of ILS – Research Institute for Regional and Urban Development(Dortmund, Germany) using data from the forthcoming edition of the annual geomonitoring report of urban agglomerations in Germany. Please contact me for further details on the terms of use.

Source: Views of the World

Using Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) for Remote Sensing of Archaeological Sites

BY RACHEL QUIST


Unmanned vehicles are becoming more widely available both in the military and civilian sectors for their usefulness for remotely acquiring a variety of data. Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS), previously referred to as Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV), are integrated ground, air, and data systems in which an aircraft (fixed wing or rotary) are either remotely piloted or operates autonomously and can perform a number of missions, including reconnaissance and remote sensing.

Beyond the military’s interest in UAS’s, the civilian sector has become increasingly aware of these systems and due to lower tech options; UAS’s have become useful in a number of scientific discipline studies.

RQ-8A FIRE SCOUT VERTICAL TAKEOFF AND LANDING TACTICAL UNMANNED AERIAL VEHICLE (VTUAV) SYSTEM. SOURCE: U.S. NAVY PHOTO BY PHOTOGRAPHER’S MATE 2ND CLASS DANIEL J. MCLAIN

Archaeological researchers are an early adopter of remote sensing technology but until the early part of the twenty-first century data was primarily limited to aerial/satellite imagery and photogrammetry. These methods were rather successful for a number of projects, most notably investigations of the geoglyphs of Nazca, Peru, but were still rather limiting in many ways.

Examining the Nazca case study, these archaeological features are highly unique and unusual and have been a bit of a mystery for the last century, largely due to the difficulty of recording these large features. The Nazca lines are huge, some measuring 200 meters, and are combinations of lines, trapezoids, stars, human figures, and animal figures. The geoglyphs are made by removing reddish pebbles of the high desert plateau and exposing the light colored ground underneath.

FIGURE IS KNOWN AS THE DOG, AN EXAMPLE OF NAZCA GEOGLYPHS LOCATED IN THE NAZCA DESERT, A HIGH ARID PLATEAU THAT STRETCHES 53 MILES BETWEEN THE TOWNS OF NAZCA AND PALPA ON THE PAMPAS DE JUMANA. SOURCE: COLEGTA (WIKIMEDAI COMMONS).

In a study published in 2000, Grün et.al used digital photogrammetric technology and integrated their data intovector and raster GIS data. This was the first time that these archaeological features were recorded using a GIS approach. Unfortunately, their study encountered a technological limitation of the computers at the time; their computer memory was limited to 64 MB which was not enough to render some of their graphics and data.

A few years later, in 2004, Eisenbeiss published a study in which a mini unmanned aerial vehicle was used for photogrammetric recording and documentation of a previously identified heritage site in Peru, Pinachango Alto. This study used a Copter 1B from Survey-Copter equipped with GPS/INS stabilized system, an onboard Cannon D10/D60 camera, and a ground control station by weControl. The flight plan was developed with predefined points and stopped and once programmed into the helicopter the flight path was automatically flown.

The project was able to successfully map the archaeological site and to render a 3D model of the settlement but they still had their share of technological difficulties. Their conclusions and recommendations noted that UAS’s used to map heritage sites should be able to fly longer than 15 minutes, which in their case required attaching a larger gas tank and then increasing engine power to carry the heavier payload.

In more recent years, a wide variety of UAS systems have been developed to address these early problems of duration, payload weight, and computer memory. In addition, GPS, LiDAR, photography, and wireless data integration have also improved allowing for viewing of real-time imagery from UAS’s for a period of several hours.

Thermal infrared photography from UAS’s is another improvement that has allowed archaeologists to see previously unknown and subtle features on top and beneath the surface landscape. Linear features such as prehistoric roads and canals can be easily detected as well as some subsurface features and burials using thermal infrared photography. Due to these improvements in the technology a number of archaeological survey and recording projects around the globe have used unmanned aerial systems to locate and map archaeological sites. In fact, the technique is becoming so widespread it has earned the name “aerial archaeology.”

Despite these improvements, use of unmanned aerial systems is largely restricted to being used to locate and record very large archaeological sites and generally those sites that contain remains of structures. These types of archaeological sites, although very impressive and widespread throughout the world, are not the most common site type. More typically, archaeologists record artifact concentrations associated with specific activity types in the past; these may include hunting sites, tool resharpening stations, toolstone quarrying, plant gathering and processing stations, and ceremonial locations. At this point in time, the best method to locate these discrete clusters of small artifact remnants is with the unaided human eye during a pedestrian survey.

Other uses for UAS technology are quickly becoming evident and entering the civilian sector through private corporations marketing directly to specific industries. Current and future applications of UAS’s will include forest fire detection, fire fighting, emergency mountain rescue, avalanche survivor search, crop dusting, pollution monitoring, natural disaster monitoring, delivery of emergency medical/food supplies, road traffic surveillance, poaching patrol, and weather data and research.

References:
Eisenbeiss H., 2004. A mini unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV): system overview and image acquisition. International Workshop on “Processing and visualization using high-resolution imagery”.

Grün, A, Bär, S., Beutner, S., 2000, Signals in the sand: 3-D recording and visualization of the Nasca geoglyphs. PFG, Vol. 6

Source: GIS Lounge - Maps and GIS

Using Remote Sensing to Measure Land Deformation

BY CAITLIN DEMPSEY MORAIS


The European Space Agency has developed a new land data processor to create maps of land deformation. Called Wide Area Processor (WAP), the processes uses radar data to measure millimeter terrain deformations. Changes in the surface height of a landscape occur over time. Sinking of the earth can happen as a result of mining, earthquakes, or natural gas extraction. Expanding volcanoes or the collision between tectonic plates can result in the rising of the earth. The development of WAP allows for the measurement at the millimeter level of changes in the earth’s surface over large swaths of area.

Using a remote sensing technique called ‘persistent scatterer interferometry’, WAP is able to measure changes in height over time. Persistent scatterers are features such as buildings on the landscape that are stable, enduring, and reflect radar well. These characteristics present a measurable feature as the satellite orbits the earth.

For the pilot study, the WAP measured over a million persistent scatterers over half of Greece’s mainland (a land area of 65,000 km2) , pulling radar data from ERS-1 and ERS-2. Both of these remote sensing satellites house earth observation instruments including Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) which can detect changes in surface heights with sub-millimeter precision. With ERS-1 having orbited from 1991 to 2000, and ERS-2 still orbiting (launched in 1995), both earth observation satellites provide the ESA with long term data with which to study land deformation. For the initial study, over 360 gigabytes of raw radar data from the ERS-1 and -2 satellites was used. Rural areas averaged 10 scatterers per square kilometer. Urban areas such as the capitol, Athens, averaged 200 scatterers per square kilometer.

The study found that over a ten year period, areas in parts of Greece are sinking by about 10 mm per year. The areas of greatest subsidence were found in the cities Athens and Larissa, and around the Gulf of Corinth. The city of Thessaloniki showed areas experiencing both subsidence and uplift.

EXAMPLE OF WIDE-AREA MAPPING OF TERRAIN DEFORMATIONS OVER MAINLAND GREECE. THIS GPS-CALIBRATED DEFORMATION MAP COVERS 65 000 SQ KM – APPROXIMATELY HALF OF THE COUNTRY’S TERRITORY. THIS MAP WAS CREATED USING 10 INDIVIDUAL ERS-1/2 STACKS, EACH STACK BEING A TIME SERIES OF 58 TO 76 SAR IMAGES ACQUIRED FROM 1992 TO 2003 FOR A TOTAL OF 671 IMAGES. SOURCE: ESA.
WAP can be used to process data from other satellites such as ALOS, TerraSAR-X and the future Sentinel-1. Sentinel-1 is being developed under Europe’s Global Monitoring for Environment and Security (GMES) program and will provide additional C-band synthetic aperture radar data. The first Sentinel-1 will be launched in 2013 and the second in a few years.


Source: GIS Lounge - Maps and GIS

Water Utilities: GIS has Changed Have You?

By Matt Sheenan



Water utilities both big and small are faced with a range of different challenges. A recent American Water Works Association (AWWA) report listed but a few:

1. Condition of water/wastewater infrastructure
2. Water scarcity/supply
3. Drought potential
4. Customer/community relations
5. Emergency planning and response
6. Government regulations
7. Managing assets

New technology is today helping to provide solutions to these challenges. Key among these technologies is GIS.

Water Utilities: GIS has Changed Have You?
GIS is not new. It is a technology which today is undergoing dramatic changes. Changes which are making it easier to afford, access and use. So what are these changes?

Cloud Based GIS is a Game Changer
Gone are the days when you as an organization need to deal with the complexity and expense of setting up and hosting a GIS internally. Cloud based GIS is now here. That means others maintaining your GIS, simply set up a subscription to Esri’s ArcGIS for example and go. Its as simple as that. GIS subscriptions are very affordable even to the smallest utilities. Internal staff are no longer required to maintain and update your GIS. Maybe most importantly it has never been easier to administer a GIS and publish maps.

If cloud based GIS solutions are not your cup of tea, with releases like Portal for ArcGIS, you can now host your own version of ArcGIS Online inside your firewall.

No More Data Silos
We once lived in a world where authoritative data was hard to find. Reliable water main data was over here, updated valve inspection data over there. A GIS provides a central system for all your data. Your organizations authoritative data or system of record. Anybody in your organization who needs access to any asset or asset related data can simply access your GIS.

Mobile Maps, Mobile GIS Apps
Mobile devices – smartphone, and tablets – are transforming society. Today we all carry miniaturized computers, which know through GPS where they are at all times. Apps which provide interactive maps are extremely popular. GIS not only provides maps, it allows water utility field staff to better get their jobs done.

We have been building a simple asset management mobile ArcGIS application for utilities which works both online and offline, is configurable and runs on any device and any platform (Apple, Android, Windows). Its an elegant solution for those who are looking to move away from ArcPad or cannot afford enterprise GIS asset management platforms.

New Configurable Applications for Water Utilities
There has been a new move in the world of GIS to provide focused, targeted configurable applications. Esri have been particularly busy here. ArcGIS for Water Utilities is a suite of applications designed to solve specific challenges. Whether it is tracing illicit discharge, finding polluters, analyzing water loss, responding to emergencies, generating water reports or connecting with customers. There is an easy to set up application designed for that purpose.

We have been working with a number of utilities helping them take advantage of these solutions.

GIS has come a long way in the last 2 years. More affordable, easier to access and use. If you are not actively using GIS and the new tools available to manage your water utility, you are missing out on a crucial time and cost saving technology.


Contact us for more information on 801-733-0723.

Source

From Big Data to Big Action: Tackling Poverty and Inequality Using Data Visualization

By Matthew Tyler.



“It’s not about big data, it’s about big understanding… Understanding strengthens the link between data tools and policy action.” These were the reflections of Jack Dangermond, Founder and President of the Esri, at the 14th convening of the Project on Municipal Innovation Advisory Group (PMI-AG). Dangermond was joined by leaders from America’s largest cities to discuss how municipal Chief Data Officers can impact policy, emphasizing ways that data – and in particular, data visualization – might be used in the fight against poverty and inequality.

Big data analytics and data visualization have made great strides in recent years. Building and food inspections are better targeted; congestion on roads and public transport is monitored in real time; natural disasters are preemptively simulated; and city “story maps” are used to engage citizens in municipal service delivery, small business decisions, and land use planning. However, the palpable sense of anticipation among PMI participants suggested that using big data and data visualization to tackle deeper systemic issues proves more difficult.


“Understanding strengthens the link between data tools and policy action,” Dangermond said.

With regards to poverty and inequality, progress in data visualization has been largely limited to what several participants described as “sad maps.” Maps for crime rates, school retention, and infant mortality measures all tell similar geographical stories: the darkest shades of the map, indicating the most severe disparities, represent the same few neighborhoods. Participants agreed that all too often these maps prompt concern, but offer few suggestions on how to shape policy.

Over the course of the panel, however, it became clear that several emerging data-orientated approaches have the potential to shape policies that address poverty and inequality:

• Overlay “sad maps” with the existing geographical distribution of service delivery to inform future budget allocations. Several participants are in the process of using maps to determine whether there is underlying discrimination in infrastructure investments.
• Use spatial correlation analysis to identify and understand positive deviance. That is, given what we know about a neighborhood’s context, which areas are performing better than they ought to be? For instance, what can we learn from high poverty neighborhoods where obesity is low?
• Use regression over space and time to identify root causes. In doing so, the most important lead indicators can be used to identify those who may benefit most from early intervention. In Chicago, intensive academic tutoring is targeted at those who fail Algebra 1; the best predictor of school dropout. A similar approach is being employed to analyze patterns of eviction in New York that are most likely to lead to homelessness.

These approaches are only a starting point. To create real change, a symbiotic dance must take place between policy officers and data officers. Policy officers must identify the information products needed to inform decision making. Conversely, data officers need to help point out caveats and suggest how additional analysis could tease out further conclusions. In turn, policy officers complement data analyses with their nuanced research knowledge to build a causative narrative of what are almost always endogenous problems – and this narrative can spring to life with data visualizations or story maps developed in data shops. This is the back and forth of problem solving that translates analysis to action.

Similarly, getting the best out of big data requires engagement with the public. Several Chief Data Officers explained that they spend a lot of time talking with the public to understand what is happening “on the ground.” Data is only one piece of the puzzle. In a bid to share costs and broaden capabilities, a growing number of cities are partnering with leading research universities through the White House backed MetroLab network. It is hoped that these partnerships will underpin the transition of big data and data visualization across mayoral administrations.

Like e-mail, big data and data visualization will likely become ubiquitous. For systemic policy issues though, moving from data to information products and ultimately to policy action is no easy task. The ideas raised during the PMI-AG discussion suggests big data and data visualization have the potential to improve policies targeting poverty and inequality. With that said, there is much work and discovery to come before we can make firm conclusions about their efficacy. In the words of Thomas Edison – “the value of an idea lies in the using of it.”

Source: Public CEO

A Genetic Atlas of Human Admixture History

Research article by:

Garrett Hellenthal1,
George B. J. Busby2,
Gavin Band3,
James F. Wilson4,
Cristian Capelli2,
Daniel Falush5,*,
Simon Myers3,6,*,†


1UCL Genetics Institute, University College London, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT, UK.
2Department of Zoology, Oxford University, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3PS, UK.
3Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics, Oxford University, Roosevelt Drive, Oxford OX3 7BN, UK.
4Centre for Population Health Sciences, University of Edinburgh, Teviot Place, Edinburgh EH8 9AG, UK.
5Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz 6, 04103 Leipzig, Germany.
6Department of Statistics, Oxford University, 1 South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3TG, UK.
↵†Corresponding author. E-mail: myers{at}stats.ox.ac.uk


↵* These authors contributed equally to this work.



ABSTRACT
Modern genetic data combined with appropriate statistical methods have the potential to contribute substantially to our understanding of human history. We have developed an approach that exploits the genomic structure of admixed populations to date and characterize historical mixture events at fine scales. We used this to produce an atlas of worldwide human admixture history, constructed by using genetic data alone and encompassing over 100 events occurring over the past 4000 years. We identified events whose dates and participants suggest they describe genetic impacts of the Mongol empire, Arab slave trade, Bantu expansion, first millennium CE migrations in Eastern Europe, and European colonialism, as well as unrecorded events, revealing admixture to be an almost universal force shaping human populations.

The in-Laws Through History
Admixture, the result of previously distant populations meeting and breeding, leaves a genetic signal within the descendants' genomes. However, over time the signal decays and can be hard to trace. Hellenthal et al. (p. 747) describe a method, using a technique called chromosome painting, to follow the genetic traces of admixture back to the nearest extant population. The approach revealed details of worldwide human admixture history over the past 4000 years.

Received for publication 22 July 2013.
Accepted for publication 20 December 2013.

For full text, follow the link here.

For the genetic atlas of human admixture history website, click here.