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International Geospatial Briefing May 23rd: 1. Dam Surveys, 2. Greenland Is Cold, 3. GOES-18 Image, 4. Satellite Lasers, 5. Open Maps For Europe, 6. Google Maps Immersive View

    1. Dam Fine Data: Sub-millimetre-resolution UAS Dam Surveys
    2. Mapping heat flow beneath Greenland highlights geothermal ‘freak zone’
    3. Stunning First Imagery of Earth From Advanced GOES-18 Satellite
    4. Military experiment demonstrates intersatellite laser communications in low Earth orbit
    5. Open Maps For Europe releases open cadastral map prototype and data updates
    6. Immersive view coming soon to Maps — plus more updates

Dam Fine Data: Sub-millimetre-resolution UAS Dam Surveys

Swiss pumped storage plants and dams are in hard-to-reach locations, making inspections and surveying hard. But Orthodrone has a solution: sub-millimetre-resolution uncrewed aerial system (UAS) dam surveys. The use of drones in this way allows for safer access and better results. This is important as half of the energy produced in Switzerland comes from hydropower, so high-quality, up-to-date data and imagery is key for the whole country.

A: Image of the survey site | B: Part of the dam (cropped height) | C: Image at 100% zoom | D: Point cloud & analysis, Source: https://www.gim-international.com/case-study/dam-fine-data-sub-millimetre-resolution-uas-dam-surveys

Full article here.


Mapping heat flow beneath Greenland highlights geothermal ‘freak zone’

It was a known fact that the earth beneath Greenland was cold, but new data shows that it’s a lot colder than anyone knew. By looking at available and somewhat unavailable heat flow data for the area, scientists complied a database with almost double the amount of measurements the area previously had. Greenland is in a unique and interesting spot, so the team behind this discovery say there’s a lot more to learn and understand, especially for larger research on global warming and melting ice caps.

A spatial heat map of Greenland. Source: https://phys.org/news/2022-05-beneath-greenland-highlights-geothermal-freak.html

Full article here.


Stunning First Imagery of Earth From Advanced GOES-18 Satellite

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration recently shared an image of planet Earth taken from its Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES). GOES-18 launched at 4:38 p.m EST on March 1st and measures energy wavelengths to get information about Earth. The primary instrument on GOES-18 is the Advanced Baseline Imager (ABI), which provides the principal imagery and data used for weather forecasts in the U.S.

A picture of Earth taken by GOES-18. Source;https://scitechdaily.com/stunning-first-imagery-of-earth-from-advanced-goes-18-satellite/

Full article here.


Military experiment demonstrates intersatellite laser communications in low Earth orbit

On April 14th, two satellites launched by Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) established an optical link in an experiment. This success means there will be more satellite-to-satellite communication in the future. The Space Development Agency is planning to build a network of small satellites in low Earth orbit for military operations, and as optical terminals become more and more produced, they’ll be used for a wide variety of uses. Optical terminals use lasers to connect satellites in orbit so they can transfer data in space, and in this recent experiment, 200 gigabytes were transmitted over 100 kilometers.

Rendering of laser communications terminals. Source: https://spacenews.com/military-experiment-demonstrates-intersatellite-laser-communications-in-low-earth-orbit/

Full article here.


Open Maps For Europe releases open cadastral map prototype and data updates

Open Maps for Europe has released an Open Cadastral Map prototype which provides large-scale coverage for four countries: Poland, the Netherlands, Spain, and Czech Republic. Users can discover, view, license, and download the open datasets to find out what is available from national sources in one place before obtaining the data from the official provider. The cadastral map comprises four data types: Administrative Units, Cadastral Parcels (and Cadastral Zones), Buildings (and Building Parts) and Addresses. All this data for various countries encourages European participation and coordination.

One of the maps available. Source: https://www.mapsforeurope.org/datasets/euro-global-map

Full article here.


Immersive view coming soon to Maps — plus more updates

By using AI, Google is bringing a new kind of view to Google Maps: Immersive View. It fuses billions of Street View and aerial images to create a rich, digital model of the world so users can feel like they’re actually in the place they’re exploring. Google maps also announced a few other small updates on eco-friendly routing and Live view.

An immersive view of London. Source: https://blog.google/products/maps/three-maps-updates-io-2022/

Full article here.