Εμφάνιση αναρτήσεων με ετικέτα GIS data. Εμφάνιση όλων των αναρτήσεων
Εμφάνιση αναρτήσεων με ετικέτα GIS data. Εμφάνιση όλων των αναρτήσεων

Παρασκευή 2 Οκτωβρίου 2015

Extracting 3D GIS Data




This piece by Anil Narendran Pillai, Vice President of Geomatics at SBL, takes a look at 3D GIS data creation using feature extraction methods.




3D GIS data can be used for spatial analysis in many different areas, such as 3D city modeling, terrain visualization, industrial design, education, animation entertainment and preservation of historical sites. Feature extraction of 3D shapes is an important branch of GIS and uses advanced technologies like digital photogrammetry, LiDAR data processing, and pattern recognition. Unlike 3D GIS data, 2D geographic data only shows horizontal features on a planar surface, without elevation contours to depict the terrain. With 3D data, topographic mapping contour and elevations are vital parts. The combination of planimetric and topographic mapping to create a depiction of the Earth’s surface features in 3D is invaluable for geospatial analysis and modeling.

3D Feature Extraction

SBL’s 2D/3D Feature Extraction in-house expertise qualifies us to capture data from small to large scale stereo models and generate high precision digital topographic maps. SBL 3D feature extraction services provides accurate digital planimetric feature extraction for cartography mapping and 3D topo mapping by extracting surface features like railroads, buildings, hydrological features, vegetation, etc., with proper coding and symbology.


Viewing the features extracted from the above methods and get superimposed on the 3-dimensional digital aerial photograph, ensures that editing and collection time is accurate and complete:



SBL’s ability to create customized databases and cartographic map representations is useful in meeting any specification or software format.

Benefit of 3D GIS Data
The benefit of 3D features is the value-added geospatial information that can be derived from high resolution stereo images and hi-density point cloud data. This comprises three specific data products, not exclusively, Digital Orthophoto, digital terrain models and 3D vector data. Digital Orthophoto have turn out to be a standard constituent of base map data, and can be used for accuracy assessment, 2D vector digitizing and update, change detection and a number of other applications.

AREAS INFLUENCED BY 3D APPLICATIONS:
  • Long Range Planning
  • BIM
  • Utility Network Designing
  • Plant/Facility Planning & Management
  • Roadway Design
  • Utility Management
  • Landfill/Quarry Management
  • Topographic Surveys
  • Volumetric/Quantity Calculations
About the Author:

Anil Narendran Pillai – (Vice President – Geomatics @ SBL) Mr. Pillai heads the GSS (Geospatial Services) domain at SBL(www.sblcorp.com). 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 LiDAR services http://www.sblcorp.com/Geospatial-Services/lidar-services.php

Σάββατο 8 Αυγούστου 2015

Avenza® Releases MAPublisher® 9.6 for Adobe® Illustrator®



Cartographic add-on now compatible with Adobe Illustrator Creative Cloud™ 2015


Avenza Systems Inc., producers of the PDF Maps app for mobile devices and geospatial plug-ins for Adobe Creative Cloud, including Geographic Imager® for Adobe Photoshop®, is pleased to announce the release of MAPublisher 9.6 for Adobe Illustrator. This latest update includes many new features and is fully compatible with the recently released Adobe Illustrator Creative Cloud 2015. This release also introduces map package export compatible with the PDF Maps mobile app and the upload of map packages directly to the PDF Maps digital map store.

"We’re delighted to release MAPublisher 9.6 to ensure our users are using the latest map making tools with the newest features of Adobe Illustrator Creative Cloud 2015,” said Ted Florence, President of Avenza. “An important addition to an already full-featured cartographic tool lineup is the ability to create map packages for the PDF Maps app,” he added. “These map packages can be loaded directly into the app by anybody wanting to use custom maps. Map publishers can easily upload map packages directly to the map store from Adobe Illustrator, making it easier to publish and sell maps, and has become a complete platform that benefits both map users and makers alike.”

Enhancements and new features of MAPublisher 9.6

  • Fully compatible with Adobe Illustrator Creative Cloud 2015 on both Windows (32-bit and 64-bit) and Mac
  • New ability to export a map package compatible with the PDF Maps app. Map publishers can upload map packages directly to the PDF Maps Store
  • Optimized Export Document to Web Tiles for faster tile export
  • New text utility that curves text to lines of latitude
  • Compatible with FME Desktop 2015 for MAPublisher FME Auto
  • Various user interface and performance enhancements to improve usability

More about MAPublisher for Adobe Illustrator
MAPublisher for Adobe Illustrator is powerful map production software for creating high-quality maps from GIS data. MAPublisher cartographic tools leverage the superior graphic design capabilities of Adobe Illustrator to manipulate GIS data and to produce both print-ready and online maps with accuracy and efficiency.

MAPublisher 9.6 is available free of charge to all MAPublisher users with an active maintenance subscription and as an upgrade for non-maintenance users at US$599. New commercial licenses are US$1399. MAPublisher FME Auto and MAPublisher LabelPro are also available as add-ons to MAPublisher 9.6 at prices starting at US$399 per license.
Academic, floating and volume pricing are also available. Prices include one year of full maintenance. Visit www.avenza.com/mapublisher for more details.

More about Avenza Systems Inc.
Avenza Systems Inc. is an award-winning, privately held corporation that provides cartographers and GIS professionals with powerful software tools to make better maps. In addition to software offerings for Mac and Windows users, Avenza offers value-added data sets, product training and consulting services, as well as the PDF Maps app for purchasing and using maps on iPhones, iPads and iPod Touch devices. Visit www.avenza.com for more details.

Contact:

Tel: 416-487-5116
Email: Email Contact
Web: www.avenza.com


Πέμπτη 30 Ιουλίου 2015

GIS Data and the Coastline Paradox



BY JOE AKINTOLA




Imagine that you’re taking a GIS class and your instructor tasks everyone with coming up with the answer to, “what is the length of the coastline of Maine?” Everyone downloads a different GIS data set to calculate the length and everyone comes back with a completely different answer to that question.

The phenomenon is known as the Coastline Paradox. This phenomenon has raised interesting questions in the world of Geography and how differing resolutions of data covering the same geographic area can yield remarkably different measurements of length. Questions such as: “How long is the coastline of Australia?” or “did you know that the coast of the U.S. state of Maine is longer than the coast of California?” become harder to answer consistently and depend greatly on the resolution of the GIS data used to measure the coastlines in question.

So what is the Coastline Paradox? It is a paradox that occurs when measuring a coastline that causes the total length of the coastline to increase each time you measure it with a smaller unit of measurement, due to the extra features that can be measured.

What does that mean? Just imagine you were told to manually measure the length of a jagged feature maybe a map and you have got no ‘thread’ to measure with. What do you do? You get a meter rule, right? However, the result you get will now be based on the length and size of the rule you use. The smaller the meter rule the more precise your measurement will be and vice versa. Using a few straight lines to approximate the length of a curve will produce a low estimate. That is why you use a thread to get the most precise measurement possible.

The coastline is the most obvious example of this situation due to its fractal-like (jagged recurring pattern) properties. This phenomenon was first observed by Lewis Fry Richardson (1881 – 1953) and is sometimes referred to as the Richardson effect.

The advancements in technology and computing and its consequent adoption in the field of geography especially the visualization and management of geographically referenced information which includes GPS (global positioning systems) data and remotely sensed imagery with the use of software specifically geographic information systems (GIS) and remote sensing (RS) has really increased our ability to create maps of the world’s coastline in a more precise way and in some way deal with the paradox to a large extent.

So the next time you are tasked with measuring the length of a coastline, river, or other lengthy feature, consider the resolution of the GIS data you need to use. As discussed in an earlier article, larger scale GIS data sets tend to show more detail than smaller scale data.



AN EXAMPLE OF THE COASTLINE PARADOX. IF THE COASTLINE OF GREAT BRITAIN IS MEASURED USING UNITS 100 KM (62 MI) LONG, THEN THE LENGTH OF THE COASTLINE IS APPROXIMATELY 2,800 KM (1,700 MI). WITH 50 KM (31 MI) UNITS, THE TOTAL LENGTH IS APPROXIMATELY 3,400 KM (2,100 MI), APPROXIMATELY 600 KM (370 MI) LONGER. SOURCE: WIKIPEDIA




References

Coastline paradox: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coastline_paradox

Fractal: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fractal

Mandelbrot, B. B. “How Long Is the Coast of Britain.” Ch. 5 in The Fractal Geometry of Nature. New York: W. H. Freeman, pp. 25-33, 1983.

Mapping Monday: The Coastline Paradox: http://blog.education.nationalgeographic.com/2013/01/28/mapping-monday-the-coastline-paradox

Coastline paradox: http://mathworld.wolfram.com/CoastlineParadox.html

The Coastline Paradox: How can one coastline be two different lengths?: http://www.richannel.org/the-coastline-paradox

What Is The Coastline Paradox?: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I_rw-AJqpCM