GIS

The Autonomous Saildrone Surveyor Preps for Its Sea Voyage

The 72-foot-long vessel is launched recently into the bay from its dock at a former naval base in Alameda, California. It is designed to spend months at sea mapping the seafloor with powerful sonar devices, while simultaneously scanning the ocean surface for genetic material to identify fish and other marine organisms swimming below.

The carbon-fiber composite and stainless steel-hulled vessel will navigate by itself, following a preprogrammed route to collect and transmit oceanographic data back to Saildrone headquarters via satellite link. The data will then become available to government and academic scientists studying the ocean. In time, its designers say, they hope that solar-powered Surveyor might replace existing oceanographic research ships that are far more expensive to operate and leave a substantial carbon footprint. www.saildrone.com

NHPC, India inaugurates RS and GIS lab virtually

A Remote Sensing and GIS Laboratory was inaugurated via video conferencing at the Corporate Office of NHPC (National Hydroelectric Power Corporation), India’s premier hydropower company by Shri A.K. Singh, CMD, NHPC on 14 January 2021.

This remote sensing laboratory has been established by the instrument and Diversity Management Division of NHPC. The laboratory has been started with the objective of continuously monitoring the environment of all NHPC projects and who carry out research and development work through this medium. www.psuconnect.in

Complete Sonardyne suite for Dive Technologies’

Quincy, Massachusetts, based underwater robotics innovator Dive Technologies has chosen a complete suite of Sonardyne technologies for navigation, tracking and control of its large displacement DIVE-LD autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) programme.

For underwater positioning and acoustic communications, the DIVELD is fitted with Sonardyne’s AvTrak 6 – a combined transponder, modem and emergency relocator beacon all in one. www.sonarydne.com

GIS mapping resumes in Kollam, India

The Kollam Corporation has resumed GIS mapping and Intelligent Property Management System (IPMS) survey to facilitate technology-based planning. The survey had hit a road block earlier due to resistance from the residents and allegations of data leak, forcing the authorities to stop it temporarily. At present the drone and GPS surveys for documenting geographic and infrastructural details have been completed along with the web portal.

As part of the survey all buildings and other topographic and infrastructural details including landmarks, waterbodies, bridges, wetlands, fallow lands, traffic junctions and parking areas will be mapped and stored using technologies like drone and Differential Global Positioning System (DGPS). According to officials, GIS mapping of the Corporation has been conceived in a way to expedite overall development and ensure that various projects and welfare schemes are reaching the right beneficiaries. “Kollam is the first Corporation implementing such a project and after its completion we are expecting some major changes in project formulation and implementation, town planning, disaster management, and waste treatment.”

The Corporation had outsourced the works to ULTS, a subsidiary of the Uralungal Labour Contract Cooperative Society (ULCCS) and in November 2020 the opposition alleged that ULTS has been conducting unauthorised surveys and uploading the data in their private server. They had claimed that the questionnaire included around 200 questions and most of them were health-related following which the Corporation had stopped the survey and ordered a probe. www.thehindu.com

SSP Innovations acquires 3-GIS

SSP Innovations, LLC (SSP), the leader in utility GIS products and services, announced the acquisition of 3-GIS, a leading provider of geospatial back-office web and mobile products for the telecom industry. With the 3-GIS acquisition, SSP will acquire telecom software products like 3-GIS Web, 3-GIS Mobile, 3-GIS Prospector and 3-GIS Network Express inclusive of their SaaS offering 3-GIS Live. https://sspinnovations.com

A.V. Mapping may put an end to copyright battles

Copyrights are increasingly valued due to the increasing popularity of video content on social media, and timeconsuming, licensing conflicts between video creators and music producers are on the rise. Hundreds of thousands of videos around the world are currently involved in copyright infringement suits. A.V. Mapping, which was selected by Taiwan Tech Arena (TTA) as one of the 100 featured Taiwanese startups being showcased at CES 2021, is promoting its patented AI platform as a solution to the problem of copyright infringement in our online media-driven age.

With its unique AI model, the platform analyzes the content, element, and cuts in an uploaded video and then compares the results to the music database for the proper music recommendation for each video. This database currently contains over 6,000 hours of music, covering 120,000 songs in 60 different genres. Continued expansion is expected to increase this database to over 28 million songs in the future.

The AI platform helps filmmakers skip the traditional, time-consuming process of browsing through millions of music studios, testing music out with the film, and music licensing. The entire process can now be as short as 8 seconds, compared to the days or weeks of work required otherwise. https://avmapping.co

Version 8.0 of the GeoCalc SDK

Blue Marble Geographics has announced the immediate availability of version 8.0 of the GeoCalc® Software Development Kit (SDK). The new release incorporates many new features including new IOGP data model types for Usage and Scope Objects, Dynamic Datums, and Ensembles. It also offers integration with the new GeoCalc Online service. bluemarblegeo.com

MoRTH and DRDO to collaborate for geo-hazard management

Ministry of Road Transport & Highways (MoRTH), India and Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), Ministry of Defence, India recently signed a framework Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to strengthen collaboration in the field of technical exchange and co-operation on sustainable geo-hazard management.

It has been agreed that MoRTH and DRDO will co-operate in the areas of mutual benefit including, conceptual planning of integrated avalanche/ landslide protection schemes for all weather connectivity in snow bound areas of our country

Defence Geo-Informatics Research Establishment (DGRE), a premier laboratory of DRDO, is leader in the development of critical technologies for enhancing combat effectiveness with a focus on terrain and avalanches. The role and charter of this establishment is mapping, forecasting, monitoring, control and mitigation of landslides and avalanches in Himalayan terrain.

It has been agreed by both the organizations to utilize the expertise of DRDO (through DGRE) in providing sustainable mitigation measures to damages caused by landslides, avalanche and other natural factors on various National Highways in the Country. https://pib.gov.in