GIS

USGS awards $4 Million to Support Earthquake Early Warning System

The U.S. Geological Survey has awarded approximately $4 million this week to four universities – California Institute of Technology, University of California, Berkeley, University of Washington and University of Oregon – to support transitioning the “ShakeAlert” earthquake early warning system toward a production stage. A functioning early warning system can give people a precious few seconds to stop what they are doing and take precautions before the severe shaking waves from an earthquake arrive. The USGS has additionally spent about $1 million to purchase new sensor equipment for the EEW system. These efforts are possible because of a $5 million increase to the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program for EEW approved by Congress earlier this year. www.usgs.gov/newsroom/

3D imagery of India’s major cities likely in Google Earth

3D imagery of buildings and terrain of India’s major cities, including Rashtrapati Bhavan (Presidents House) and Prime Ministers Office, could soon be seen in Google Earth with the government contemplating to give permission for uploading pictures of the country’s metropolitan areas. United States, the United Kingdom, China and many countries in the world have already given permission to put 3D imagery of their respective metropolitan areas. http:// articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/

3D GIS maps by INCOIS

The Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS) is working on the creation of 3D GIS maps to ease the evacuation of people from vulnerable areas at risk of tsunami or other natural disaster.

The INCOIS team has been focusing on a multi-hazard vulnerability mapping of the coastal as well as the inland areas of Puducherry town which will bring as result 3D GIS maps of the vulnerable areas. These maps will support the local and disaster management agencies to better plan the evacuation process when a natural disaster warning is issued. The New Indian Express

On the right path with OS Maps

Ordnance Survey has produced a new off-road sat-nav style router in its OS Maps application that covers Britain��s 15 National Parks. Using Ordnance Surveys unrivalled outdoors mapping it allows users to plot routes along public rights of way and footpaths. It is hoped the simple-to-use navigating tool will encourage even more people to explore the parks. http://os.uk/osmaps

100 Resilient Cities teams with Trimble for Innovative Global Urban Resilience Initiative

Pioneered by the Rockefeller Foundation (100RC) is partnering with Trimble which will offer a critical resilience building tool to 100RC’s network cities. Using Trimble® eCognition® Essentials software, cities can leverage readily available satellite and aerial imagery from manned or unmanned aerial systems (UAS) to produce timely, accurate land use and mapping information that can be used with a GIS. The software enables cities to transform images into quantifiable, actionable information about land use that can be applied to enhance a city’s resilience building efforts. 100RC network cities can use Trimble eCognition Essentials to help design and implement the cities’ long-term resilience strategy to better plan for and respond to stresses and shocks such as heat island effect, air quality and stormwater runoff, flooding, landslides, fire prevention and recovery and more. www.trimble.com

Antenova announces Sinica embedded GNSS antenna

Antenova Ltd. has announced its new, embedded GNSS antenna, named “Sinica.” Operating in the 1559 – 1609 MHz L-band range, Sinica is suitable for all GNSS positioning applications on the 1559-1609 MHz bands, including GPS, GLONASS, BeiDou and Galileo, according to the company.