Bhuvan, ISRO’s geoportal and gateway to Indian earth-observation data products and services, announced that now users can select, browse and query the thematic datasets from its website. Users can also use these thematic datasets and integrate them into their systems as OGC web services. At present, Land Use Land Cover (LULC) 50K : 2005-2006, datasets are available on the website. It can be accessed from the link provided at the Bhuvan home page (www.bhuvan.nrsc. gov.in) or accessed directly from http:// bhuvan-noeda.nrsc.gov.in/theme

INDUSTRY | LBS | GPS | GIS | REMOTE SENSING | GALILEO UPDATE

China, UK build geospatial research center
The Sino-British Geospatial Information Research Centre, jointly built by the China Academy of Surveying and Mapping and U.K. University of Nottingham, opened in Beijing on Dec. 13. This research centre will develop geospatial information research to solve …

The UK’s Information Commissioner’s Offi ce (ICO) voiced concerns over the growing pervasiveness of LBS and the lack of end user awareness about how much data these systems transmit. According to Jonathan Bamford, Head of strategic liaison at the data protection watchdog, the speed of development in this sector leaves regulators struggling to ensure that the necessary safeguards are in place. “The sheer scale of technological change and the ingenuity with which people are using LBS data feeds means we are always playing catch-up,”

Russian satellite producer Reshetnev Information Satellite Systems plans to start developing a new generation satellites for the country’s Global Navigation Satellite System (GLONASS) in 2017. The company plans to fi nish developing the projected satellites, called GLONASS-KM, in 2020.

Indeed, the successful launch of two Galileo satellites on 21 October 2011 from French Guyana was a key step for the programme. Galileo is now becoming a reality and I am really proud of it. The EU, with its partners, in particular the European Space Agency, has demonstrated its ability to manage such a large scale programme. We are reaping the fruits of our continuous efforts. The programme is under control both on programmatic and fi nancial levels and it is now possible to accelerate the deployment of the constellation of satellites. That is why I have decided to buy additional satellites.

7 – 8 December 2011, Noida, India

Mr Rajendra S Pawar addressing the conference
The 12th Annual Esri India User Conference was a big hit with Users and Partners from across all spectrums of GIS Users. Held at the Radisson Blu MBD Hotel at Noida on Dec. 7th & 8th, 2011. It was a resounding success for …

January 2012:
ION International Technical Meeting,
30 Jan-1 Feb,California, United States (USA),
http://ion.org/meetings

If on the spot survey at European Navigation Conference,
2011 held in London gives any indication
About GNSS community perception,
It suggests it will be led pre-dominantly by the North America.

LightSquared and GPS: Richard Keegan;
Spatially Smart Wine: Fadhillah Norzahari, Kate Fairlie, Adrian White, Mitchell Leach, Mark Whitty, Stephen Cossell, Jose Guivant, Jayantha Katupitiya;
Land governance: Keith Clifford Bell;

The bottom line is that the LightSquared signals interfere with GPS, and LightSquared should not be allowed to proceed until the interference problems are resolved. To understand this perspective, some background is useful. The spectrum allocated to GPS for its L1 signal is from 1559 MHz to 1591 MHZ. This spectrum is shared by other Global Navigation Satellite Systems such as the EU’s Galileo, China’s Compass, and shortly also by Russia’s GLONASS, which uses the 1598 MHz to 1605 MHz band for its present signals. Basically, GNSS signals occupy the 1559 MHz – 1605 MHz band.