Using GPS to Tax Drivers for Their Use of Roads

In Oregon, the gas tax funds most road construction and maintenance. Seven years ago, the legislature realized that the state faced the prospect of a sharp drop in gas tax revenues due to improving vehicle fuel efficiency and the introduction of hybrids, as well as the political impossibility of raising the gas tax per gallon. [...]

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Personal Navigation Wish List

The end of a calendar year is traditionally a time to reflect on past events and speculate on future trends. As in other rapidly evolving technology areas, developments in the geospatial industry usually outpace the dreams of all but the most imaginative and savvy futurists. I have been fascinated by maps and charts for more [...]

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Geospatial Technology’s Role in Fixing the Infrastructure

For decades, we’ve been told that this country’s infrastructure is badly in need of investment. Infrastructure first became a household word when it was used extensively by Bill Clinton and Al Gore in their 1992 campaign. After September 11, we began to hear about the imperative of securing critical infrastructure –such as power stations and [...]

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Positioning Using Beacons of Opportunity

Whenever you know your position, it is in relation to one or more other objects. For example, if you travel in a straight line away from your home, your car’s trip odometer can tell you how far you are from it; by taking bearings on two landmarks with a handbearing compass, a sailor can find [...]

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How Mapping Companies Collect Street-level Data

On any given day in the United States, a few thousand vehicles are systematically collecting geographic data — including street centerlines, number of lanes, turn restrictions, speed limits, traffic speed, locations of television and radio broadcast antennas, and street-level images of streets, building, and signage. The two leading worldwide collectors and providers of digital map data are Tele Atlas and NAVTEQ. In this post, Matteo Luccio discusses the types and amounts of geographic data those companies collect.

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What Is the Geospatial Industry?

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Employment & Training Administration has recognized the geospatial industry as one of fourteen important emerging industries — along with advanced manufacturing, automotive, biotechnology, construction, energy, financial services, health care, homeland security, hospitality, information technology, aerospace, retail, and transportation. This designation reflects both the explosive growth of the geospatial industry in [...]

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Geospatial Organizations Form a Coalition

The geospatial community has a new forum that will foster discussion of policy and technical issues, promote openness and effective collaboration, and present a united front on issues of common concern — whenever its components agree.

The geospatial industry consists of individuals, private companies, non-profit organizations, academic and research institutions, and government agencies that research, develop, manufacture, and employ geospatial technology (also known as geomatics) — including geographic information systems (GIS), total stations for surveying, the Global Positioning System (GPS) and other global navigation satellite systems (GNSS), light detection and ranging (LIDAR), and multi-spectral imaging. Geospatial disciplines include surveying, geodesy, mapping, cartography, remote sensing (satellite imagery and aerial photography), and geographic information science. The market for geomatics products can be divided, by level of accuracy, into consumer grade, resource grade, and survey grade — each with its own industry leaders.

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The Apple iPhone publicity machine will further boost geo-tagging and location services

On Monday, Apple, with all its customary hype, announced the second-generation of its smart phone, the iPhone GPS (press release is here). While the first model allowed its 6 million users to tap into some location services using data from cell towers, the new model incorporates GPS into the phone. On the surface, the company [...]

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FT article nicely looks at Geoweb opportunities

I wanted to highlight an article from late last month that did a great job pointing out and examining the issues around integrating maps and information. In “Way to go? Mapping looks to be the web’s next big thing,” Richard Waters of the Financial Times had a number of excellent points, interesting interview tid bits, [...]

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Time to put GIS — the term — out to pasture

A couple of years ago, if you were involved with mapping and map-relevant data, everything — vendor products, titles, industry events, etc. — fell under the umbrella of the GIS term. Fast forward to today, where the integration of data and digital maps is commonplace. But while the concept lives on, the term GIS has become irrelevant.

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