News, events, and announcements for the UD GIS community, Febuary-March 2013

by | Feb 22, 2013 | News

News, events, and announcements for the UD GIS community, Febuary-March 2013

News

  • NASA launches Landsat 8
  • Agent Analyst, an open source/non-Esri product for Agent-based modeling, has been released for ArcGIS 10.0 along with a tutorial style book on how to use the extension. Both the software and the book are free at:http://resources.arcgis.com/en/help/agent-analyst/
  • The State of Delaware is continuing to look for funds to complete their LULC dataset.  Currently they have $25,000 of the estimated $80,000-$120,000 cost.  Please contact Miriam Pomilio (Miriam.Pomilio@state.de.us) if this dataset is important to you and you know of a funding source.
  • Another open geospatial lab has opened, this one in the UK, as part of the effort to create a global network of open source geospatial research and education centers.

Software Updates

  • ENVI 5 SP2 (ENVI 5.0.2) is now available from the UD GIS software site.  This version primarily fixes bugs, adds some new format read/write capabilies, and interface improvements.  One big new feature/interface improvement is a radiometric calibration tool that “calibrates image data to spectral radiance, top-of-atmosphere reflectance, or at-sensor brightness temperatures by reading the relevant metadata from the satellite vendor”, rather than relying on separate idiosyncratic radiometric by-sensor calibration operations.
  • FME 2013 is now available from the UD GIS software site.  This new version adds 28 new formats, some new LIDAR point cloud functionality, and workflow process features.

Other New Webinars

Events

Past Events and Webinars

  • We collaborated with Prof. Heidi Kaufman (English) and the Library to hold a Spatial Digital Humanities Workshop on 2/15.  We will be posting a companion screencast with narration, shortly.  The opening remarks have already been posted.
  • Sandy Shenck (DGS) and I captured Sandy’s use of ArcGIS online.  I have a higher-quality .wmv that I can dropbox for you if you can play .wmv (which should be the case on all Windows machines).
  • The Delaware Geospatial Data Committee met on 2/13/13.  The most notable topic was discussion about how the long term data collection effort outcome (Aerials, LIDAR, LULC) — including the potential for short-term failure — will be discussed in executive committee meetings targeting state department secretaries.  Actual ($) costs and benefits will probably need to be brought to that discussion.  There was also discussion about the next geospatial data system, which will be essentially a marriage between DataMil and Geospatial Data Exchange, providing web maps and map services, and how data collection efforts are tied to that system.  I will include the minutes in the next update.
  • Deep Dive into FME Desktop 2013

Other Opportunities

  • 2013 IT Innovation Grant, Pre-Proposals due 4/1/13.   This is a great opportunity for UD Faculty who have been wanting to get consulting help on a GIS project, but don’t have the needed funds.
  • The 1/2/13 deadline for complimentary Esri passes has come and gone, and we still have a few left.  Please let me know if you are interested.  The remaining passes will be granted on a first-come-first-served basis.
  • We would appreciate it if you us (i.e., me: mearns@udel.edu) know if you are running any kind of geospatial server or database (e.g., ArcGIS Server, ArcSDE, Geoserver), and if you are interested in hosting data (you would be paid for the service), or having your data hosted.  IT is thinking about resources on campus, whether we might look into providing a service, if cloud services could be promoted, or if we should look into third-party options.  If you are also able to let us know what services and interfaces you provide with your system — that would also be helpful.
  • Is anybody using the GEPHI network visualization tool?  A group on campus is going to start using this shortly, and there may be opportunities for collaboration.
  • GE is sponsoring the Geospatial Grid Contest (award: $5000), which is open to US graduate or undergraduate students with ideas on geospatial applications for the electrical grid.
  • 2013 Cartography and Geographic Information Society Distinguished Career Award, nominations By March 1, 2013, completed packages should be sent to: Terry Slocum,    t-slocum@ku.edu

Area/Forwarded Job Postings (if no link, email me mearns@udel.edu, and I’ll forward the email announcements)

  • Esri is seeking summer interns.  The deadline to apply is March 15th, but positions are filled when outstanding candidates are found.
  • Solution Engineer, Water Utility, Esri, Philadelphia, PA
  • GIS Specialist, DVRPC, Philadelphia, PA
  • Assistant/Associate Professor, Physical Geography, James Madison University
  • Full- and Part-Time Non-Tenure-Track Teaching Positions, The University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, Geographic Information Science and Technology (GIST) Graduate Programs

 

 

As always, please let me know if you have any questions or ideas that you’d like to discuss.