Report on 3rd Land Administration Forum 24-26 May 2009-Tehran, Iran
The UN sponsored Permanent Committee …

How can we plan and decide upon urban growth?, which house to buy as a secure investment?, which properties are at risk? All these are critical questions we have to face in a changing world and that may affect permanently our lives. For this reason, today it is much more important to make the correct decisions, whether for designing the national economy or making personal plans for the future.
Making decisions requires knowledge,…

GPS/INS integrated navigation system has been a candidate of integrity monitoring system since an inertial sensor could improve performance of the fault detection and exclusion (FDE) functions. Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) has developed several GPS/ INS systems called GAIA (GPS Aided Inertial navigation Avionics) for over ten years and succeeded in automatic landing of unmanned experimental…

Transport of people and goods is one of the pilars of civilisation. The
exchange of goods, services and ideas is in foundation of modern economy, as well as it was in the past. However, growing population generates new challenges for traffic control that leaves no space for classic solution but calls for the innovative and multidsciplinary approach based on the latest scientific and technology achievements…

Is it curtains for Loran?
It is a seamless backup to GPS.
It is cost-effective and completely interoperable.
Asserts The Independent Assessment Team (IAT).
Also, recommends unanimously to US Government.
To complete the eLoran upgrade and commit it as the national backup to GPS.
Two leading Senate Committees also publicly back the eLoran system.
Reportedly, $ 160 million investment has already been …

Norway joins Galileo project
The Norwegian government will give a boost by providing 68.9 million euros (92.5 million dollars) towards the 3.4 billion euro project. While Norway is not a member of the 27-member bloc, the
country’s economy and business minister Sylvia Brustad said it was important that Oslo took part in Galileo’s development. “The project will be of huge importance for the development of the European space industry and it is therefore important that Norwegian businesses are now able to compete,” Brustad said in a statement. In September, the European Commission and the European Space Agency, which includes Norway as a member, shortlisted 11 European firms which are bidding for future contracts connected to Galileo. www.newsabout- space.org/story/157986254.html

Yaogan 6 launched
China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation have recently launched the Yaogan 6 remote sensing satellite. It will mainly be used for land resources survey, environmental surveillance and protection, urban planning, crop yield estimates, disaster prevention and reduction, and space science experiments. Xinhua Agency

Ohio researcher tracks H1N1 virus
An Ohio State University Medical Centre biomedical informatics researcher is tapping the power of the Ohio Supercomputer Centre to monitor the spread of the H1N1 influenza virus. Associate professor Daniel Janies synthesizes large, diverse datasets to understand the spread of infectious diseases over hosts and geography. The resulting maps can be viewed with Google Earth. Janies will project the evolutionary tree of the virus’ mutations and host shifts onto the globe using web application, Supramap. www.osc.edu

Loran is best. Keep it!
Says a recent study which was completed in March 2007 by the Independent Assessment Team (IAT). The report has been let out of detention, just in time to counter recent efforts by the Obama administration, the Department of Homeland Security, and the US Coast Guard to throttle the program. The IAT “unanimously recommends that the US government complete the eLoran upgrade and commit to eLoran as the national backup to GPS for 20 years.” The IAT’s conclusion has long been informally known throughout the GPS industry, but the report’s release adds considerable weight, expertise, and specifics to a long, determined campaign to preserve the program. Release of this report now comes only after an extensive Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) battle waged by industry representatives against the federal government. The report asserts that “eLoran is the only cost-effective backup for national needs; it is completely interoperable with and independent of GPS, with different propagation and failure mechanisms. … It is a seamless backup, and its use will deter threats to US national and economic security by disrupting (jamming) GPS reception.” www.ida.org
…Senate Committees support eLoran
Two leading Senate committees publicly back the eLoran system and question the US President’s latest budget proposal. The FY 2010 Concurrent Budget Resolution releases views from the US Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation and the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs backing the continued support for the Loran system, acknowledging the investment already made in infrastructure upgrades and recognizing the studies performed and multi-departmental conclusion that eLoran is the best backup to GPS. Senator Jay Rockefeller, the Chairman of the Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, wrote the committee recognized the priority in “maintaining LORAN-C while transitioning to eLORAN” as means to enhance the homeland security, marine safety and environmental protection missions of the Coast Guard. Senator Collins, the ranking member on the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs wrote that the President’s budget overview proposal to terminate the LORAN-C system is inconsistent with the recent investments, recognized studies and mission of the US Coast Guard. The letter recognizes the $160 million investment already made toward upgrading the LORAN-C system to support the full deployment of eLoran http://budget.senate.gov/republican/ pressarchive/CommitteePrint.pdf
…US proposal to terminate loran-C draws fire from UK
A last-minute change in US loran policy has raised serious concerns among international navigation and security organizations. In late February, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) removed loran-C funding from the President’s budget, provoking an immediate response from the UK. The key issue was the continuing need for loran-C and eLoran to provide a backup to GPS, in the event of satellite failures or signal disruption. The UK’s position was that until the OMB’s announcement, the US supported the view that loran provides a backup to GPS, with the Department of Homeland Security stating that loran “will mitigate any safety, security or economic effects of a GPS outage or disruption.” In January, a highlevel DOT panel of independent experts, chaired by Professor Brad Parkinson – the former USAF official in charge of satnav development, now dubbed “The father of GPS” – unanimously recommended that “the US government complete the eLoran upgrade and commit to eLoran as the national backup to GPS for 20 years.” Today, government and commercial communications, finance, utilities, ATC and many other vital services in the US and overseas depend on precise GPS timing, and loran-C and eLoran are the only long-range, unjammable backups that can provide comparable accuracy. www.ainonline.com
July 2009
ESRI International user conference
13-17 July
San Diego,USA
http://www.esri.com
3rd International Summer School on GNSS
20-30 July
Berchtesgaden, Germany
http://www.munich-satellite-navigation-summerschool.org
August 2009
SEASC 2009
4-7 August 2009
Bali, Indonesia
http://www.bakosurtanal.go.ld/seasc2009/04
2009 IMTA Asia Pacific Conference Trade Show
7-8 August
Darwin, Australia
imtaaspac@chariot.net.au
http://www.maptrade.org/events/upcoming.php
September 2009
ISDE 2009
Sept 9 to 12, 2009
http://www.digitalearth-isde.org
INTERGEO 2009
22-24 September 2009
Karlsruhe, Germany
http://www.intergeo.de
ION GNSS 2009
22-25 September
savannah, Georgia
http://www.ion.org
2nd GNSS Vulnerabilities & Solutions Conference
2-5 …