GIF 2009 Volume: 7 Issue: 5 (October)

GEOTECHNOLOGY NEWS

BAE Systems has developed and delivered the first airborne persistent surveillance system to the Army, addressing an urgent need for continuous, wide-area, day-or-night situational awareness in complex operational environments. The Airborne Wide Area Persistent Surveillance Sensor (AWAPSS) increases mission effectiveness and survivability by helping to expose the actions and behaviors of enemy vehicles, soldiers and other asymmetric threats. The system design integrates matched, highresolution, visible electro-optic and infrared imaging subsystems into a stabilized turret that can continuously record details of activities on the ground. AWAPSS greatly increases the coverage area of current airborne surveillance systems and extends the monitoring capability to complete day and night coverage. BAE Systems began developing AWAPSS last year under a $23.8 million contract for two complete systems and two spare sensors.

Marianne Murphy: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

NGA Information System Manages Multiple Security Levels

Lockheed Martin and IBM have delivered a new information security system to the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency that carefully manages multiple levels of security to give users worldwide more reliable, secure access to classified data. The new system replaces older, customized and laborintensive technology with a streamlined, commercially based architecture that performs better, costs less, and can grow to manage multiple security levels. The previous system was designed in the 1980s and was built with very specific, custom technology that performed well but required significant time and resources to operate and maintain. In an effort to reduce costs and simplify the overall system baseline, Lockheed Martin worked with IBM to adapt their COTS mainframe and operating system so that it would meet the NGA’s stringent requirements for multi-level security. Lockheed Martin collected user requirements from across the federal government to ensure that the system would “plug and play” with NGA’s mission partners. IBM then adapted those requirements into their upgraded System Z baseline, which was put through a rigorous test and evaluation process before earning the government’s Protection Level 3 Certification.

Navigation Chip Sized for UAV Deployment

InterSense’s NavChip is expected to become the industry’s first commercial inertial measurement unit (IMU) on a surface-mount chip. The NavChip will enable advanced inertial navigation applications, including GPS/INS integration previously limited to large-scale military vehicles, to be deployed on small unmanned vehicles such as UAVs and robots. It will also allow the miniaturization of camera and antenna stabilization systems in both fixed and mobile applications. The NavChip is scheduled for full production in the first half of 2010. At roughly the size of a penny, the NavChip employs novel MEMS technology to yield a 12-fold improvement in noise and a six-fold improvement in drift compared to previous commercial-grade MEMS IMUs. The NavChip will also offer low power consumption, a high dynamic range, and the ability to be surface mounted, enabling seamless OEM integration for both navigation and stabilization.

Lauren McCarty: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Mike Donfrancesco: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Tiny GPS Receivers Increase Accuracy of Location Data

L-3 Interstate Electronics Corp. has released two additional configurations of its miniaturized hardened GPS receiver and one new configuration of its GPS-based guidance and navigation unit (GNU). The new TruTrak Evolution receivers and GNUs are designed to meet both the performance and low cost requirements for today’s military applications. All are available in production quantities. The advanced technology incorporated in the TruTrak Evolution systems increases the performance and accuracy of guided munitions and provides strategic location data in field device applications. Significant size and power consumption reductions were achieved in these new designs. Reduced power consumption is essential, especially in handheld devices. The TruTrak Evolution uses less than 3 watts in its highest performance operating mode; less than 700 milliwatts in low power mode; and 20 milliwatts on standby. In addition, TruTrak Evolution incorporates overall integrated processing improvements, which are required to successfully incorporate complete navigation and guidance systems into the small physical space available in today’s reduced size munitions and handheld field systems.

Greg Martz: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Software Aids Spatial Imaging Data Collection and Analysis

Trimble Access software for Spatial Imaging, a new addition to Trimble’s Connected Site solutions, is a streamlined field and office solution for surveyors and geospatial professionals that expedites spatial imaging data collection, processing, analysis, and project information delivery. The solution enables these advancements through improved workflows, the ability to create in-field deliverables, and more efficient collaboration and connectivity between project team members. Trimble Access for Spatial Imaging is designed to complement the intelligent scanning capabilities of the Trimble GX 3D scanner, which features Trimble’s SureScan technology. SureScan maintains a userdefined, equal density of points so that surveyors and geospatial professionals can collect and process data faster by focusing on collecting the right points, not just more points. The software runs on the Trimble Tablet rugged PC, which includes a wide screen, Internet connectivity, and the computing power to process large scans and view large scenes. The Trimble Tablet provides users the processing power of a laptop computer in a rugged tablet form designed specifically for field work.

LeaAnn McNabb: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Solution Links High Resolution Images to Mapping Points

Ricoh Americas has introduced a new solution that provides seamless integration between any WiFi-enabled handheld GPS device and Ricoh’s 500SE-W ruggedized digital camera. The solution addresses the needs of mobile GIS professionals who require high quality images to be associated to mapping points collected in Trimble TerraSync software, ESRI ArcPad, or other mapping applications compatible with Trimble Mapping and GIS equipment. By utilizing the WiFi-enabled 500SE in conjunction with the Trimble handhelds, users benefit from not only having a fully rugged system that ensures operational reliability in harsh environments but also the added benefits of a true machine-to-machine automated wireless file transfer and mapping images on the fly. Alternative solutions for mapping high-resolution images in the field require tedious swapping of SD memory cards from the camera to the handheld or the use of tethered USB cables and cumbersome navigation to access the image file. In this new approach, as images are captured by the 500SE camera, they may be sent automatically via FTP to the nearby Trimble handheld using a wireless peer-to-peer 802.11 WiFi connection.

Jeff Lengyel: ricohzone.com

Global Imagery Dataset Supports Mapping Visualization Needs

Earthstar Geographics has released TerraColor Plus, the next generation of its 15-meter global satellite imagery dataset. TerraColor Plus includes many enhancements over the original version released in 2005, including the addition of 15-meter imagery for parts of Antarctica. The product also removes clouds, ice and image edges from all ocean areas using Earthstar’s 15-meter global ocean mask, and fills the oceans with a consistent blue color. TerraColor is a precision orthorectified global imagery basemap built primarily from Landsat satellite imagery. It can be used for a variety of applications, including Web-based mapping GPS tracking, 3-D visualization, GIS backdrops, military logistics and flight simulation.

New Release Expands Enterprise Content Management Functions

Perceptive Software, creator of ImageNow enterprise content management (ECM) solutions, has released ImageNow 6.4, which expands the breadth of Perceptive Software’s ECM functionality and provides more solution depth for specific industries. ImageNow 6.4 exemplifies Perceptive Software’s approach to ECM technology, offering powerful, innovative, easy-toadminister features that are developed in collaboration with customers to ensure real-world impact. For example, ImageNow eForms fosters better communication with customers, suppliers and others outside the organization who are involved in the business process. eForms brings outside constituents, such as customers or suppliers, who are not licensed ImageNow users, directly into the organization’s workflow. Customers post HTML-based electronic forms to external Websites, intranets or portals, where customers, employees, suppliers and others then complete the form and submit the data directly into ImageNow Workflow. ♦

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