ALMA, Quebec, July 27, 2017 — (PRNewswire) —  On July 13 and 14, Microdrones completed an exciting series of test flights that extended further than the operator could see – or, as it is referred to in the aviation industry, beyond the visual line of sight (BVLOS). These flights were completed with a standard configuration of RC, telemetry and batteries, meaning that the md4-1000 aircraft is ready for BVLOS, as sold today.

BVLOS flights are a significant achievement in the commercial drone industry. Legal only with special permission, few companies have performed such flights.

Leaders who fly BVLOS make an important contribution to advancing the industry by demonstrating the capabilities of these systems to perform tasks that require distance, such as delivery, corridor mapping, and infrastructure inspection.

The BVLOS Tests – and the Results

The first set of tests Microdrones completed were long-range tests over the Alma airport runway. The longest of these was three kilometers back and forth. The md4-1000 aircraft made the six-kilometer trip with battery life to spare.

The second set of tests consisted of altitude flight testing in which the drone climbed to a height of 850...

Hallowell, Maine – July 27, 2017 - Blue Marble Geographics (bluemarblegeo.com) is pleased to announce that Colorado-based DroneMapper has selected Global Mapper to perform the bulk of its data processing workflows. The company employs the software’s intuitive 2D and 3D visualization tools to provide quality control of its ortho-rectified imagery and makes use of Global Mapper’s extensive LiDAR processing capabilities for DTM creation and terrain analysis.

For over two decades, Blue Marble's affordable, user-friendly GIS software has been meeting the needs of hundreds of thousands satisfied customers throughout the world. Users come from all industries including software, oil and gas, mining, civil engineering, surveying, and technology companies, as well as government departments and academic institutions.

Global Mapper is a fully functional GIS application has been steadily gaining an eager and dedicated worldwide following among geospatial professionals. Recent development work has focused on the visualization and analysis of 3D data, especially LiDAR and other point cloud formats, which has resulted in a rapid increase in the software’s popularity among professional UAV operators.

Global Mapper is DroneMapper’s go-to application for filtering point cloud data to create accurate, bare-earth Digital Terrain Models. These DTMs allow the company to generate customized contour lines that can be exported in shapefile or virtually any other vector format. Global Mapper’s powerful cut and...

Jul 27, 2017 -- Yorkshire Water is using the latest high resolution aerial photography to help manage its water network and assets over an area of nearly 15,000 square kilometres. The company has signed a new three year contract with Bluesky, building on the success of a previous three year agreement with the aerial mapping company.

Covering the whole of the Yorkshire Water operating area (northern England), the latest delivery of high resolution imagery will be used across the water supply and treatment company. The Bluesky aerial photography is accessible, using Yorkshire Water’s intranet and desktop geographical information system (GIS), to around 3,000 individual users. Primary uses include Asset Data Mapping, Land Management, Grounds Maintenance, Control Room Operations and Conveyancing.

The Bluesky aerial map data sits alongside MasterMap data from Ordnance Survey, as well as Yorkshire Water’s own customised map layers. A primary application of the imagery is maintenance of the company’s underground asset network mapping. With hundreds of changes and additions received from partners and field teams every week, the aerial photography provides additional real world details – including pavement positions, building corners and even manhole covers – that are not available from other sources.

“The Bluesky aerial photography is especially useful when digitising the underground network,” commented Heidi Weston-Beyer, Asset Data Mapping Team Leader...

Icaros and TeAx Announce an Integrated Drone Mapping Solution for Radiometric ThermalCapture (FLIR core) Sensors

FAIRFAX, Virginia, USA / WILNSDORF, Germany, July 27, 2017 – Icaros Inc., a leading provider of aerial imaging software, is pleased to announce that version 5.1 of OneButton™ Standard and Professional image processing software for unmanned aerial systems (drones) contains advanced algorithms to process Thermal IR images from Radiometric microbolometer sensors.

Icaros’ OneButton family for drone image processing lets end users easily and automatically generate geospatially precise, fully orthorectified 2D maps and 3D models from frame-based aerial imaging systems. Originally engineered for manned aircraft sensors, the OneButton software has been modified to accommodate the unique collection conditions of unmanned aerial systems (UAS). OneButton 5.1 enables users to define Radiometric parameters to precisely post-process ThermalCapture RAW readings into precise temperature maps (i.e., an accurately corrected thermal Orthomosaic).

A winning team: Icaros and TeAx Technology

OneButton radiometric post-processing of FLIR Core-TeAx ThermalCapture sensor data includes the ability to adjust the following parameters:

• Emissivity
• Atmospheric transmission and Temperature
• Background temperature, and
• Temperature Shift

These features enable TeAx ThermalCapture users to process imagery into high-fidelity thermal orthomosaics – which are crucial for professional...

Jul 27 2017 -- The Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC®) has issued a call for sponsors for an innovative interoperability initiative, Testbed 14.^[1]

The OGC Innovation Program provides a venue to advance solutions to geospatial data and service challenges through using open standards. In addition to enhancing or extending standards, the testbeds provide a unique platform where sponsors work closely with many geospatial technology providers to rapidly generate prototypes and test environments to address mission critical geospatial integration and interoperability requirements. Testbeds result in more than just new and updated standards: outcomes include guides, overviews, and best practices for solving critical geospatial interoperability problems.^[2]

Testbed 14 marks OGC’s 100th Innovation Program initiative. With previous initiatives, OGC has helped develop new standards and architectures that have transformed how we share and use geospatial information.

Building on the work from previous Testbeds, and looking at how to improve the sharing of geospatial information based on current technology trends, these are some preliminary areas that Testbed 14 may examine:

• GeoPackage utility to further support mobile applications

• Running workflows on cloud environments

• GeoSemantics (LinkedData)

• Vector tiles...

 TCC Shipping and Other Leadership Companies Step Forward to Sponsor the WOC SOS 2017 (Halifax, 29 Nov-1 Dec)

July 27, 2017 -- Industry support for the 5th WOC Sustainable Ocean Summit (SOS) continues to accelerate, with TCC Shipping (Hong Kong) coming on board as a Gold Sponsor.

TCC joins the growing list of companies showing their commitment to “Corporate Ocean Responsibility”. Initial SOS Sponsors include:
• McInnes Cooper
• IHC Mining
• Liquid Robotics
• Thordon Bearings
• AGAWA Partners
• Resolute Marine Energy
• SubCtech

Companies, industry organizations and other ocean stakeholders are invited to show their support for advancing the critical role of the business leadership and collaboration in ensuring the health and responsible use of the global ocean by coming on board as an SOS Sponsor.
( Click here to become an SOS Sponsor^[1] )

Industry organizations are also rapidly signing on as SOS Endorsers and a broad range of media companies are joining in as SOS Media Partners. For more details about the 30+ partners of the SOS 2017, please click here^[2].
( Click here to become an SOS Endorser or Media Partner^[3] )

The SOS continues to excel as the unique annual, global, high-level gathering of the diverse...

July 27, 2017 -- Sarah Parcak is a space archaeologist. She uses satellite imagery to track looted ancient burial sites and  find pyramids hidden under Egyptian cities^[1]. Now, she has bigger plans: to launch a worldwide campaign to make all of us space archaeologists.

She will be doing it through  a digital platform called Global Xplorer^[2], which will utilize crowdsourcing and satellite images to discover and protect unknown archaeological sites around the world. Parcak is the  2016 TED Prize winner^[3] — and she plans to launch the platform with the $1 million award that comes with the prize.

Parcak explains to NPR's Ari Shapiro how she plans to "game-ify" archaeological research and how she is enlisting everyone's help to pull it off.

"This is going to be a super high tech version of Google Earth," she says. "My team and I are going to process lots of satellite imagery and they'll be put on this platform."

Users will be given a small card from a deck that shows real, processed satellite imagery of a plot of land not more than 20 by 20 or 30 by 30 meters in size. There will be clues and keys by the side of the picture to help...

DUBUQUE, Iowa — (BUSINESS WIRE) — July 27, 2017 — Cartegraph, a leader in high-performance government software and services, has announced the availability of more than $350,000 in technology funds through their Small Communities Grant program^[1]. The new program is part of Cartegraph’s commitment to help local governments manage assets effectively, deploy resources efficiently and become more productive for their citizens.

“We’re proud to offer these small communities the support they need to streamline their day-to-day operations, cut costs and make data-driven decisions,” said Aaron Post, Cartegraph general manager of small market business. “Through the new technology grant program, we’re hoping small cities and counties will spend less time filling out paperwork, and more time improving the quality of life of their residents.”

The Small Communities Grant is available to local government organizations serving city populations between 900-25,000 or counties between 1,000-75,000. Additionally, applicants are required to have less than 15 full-time employees within their department and a limited budget for technology—up to approximately $25,000. Grant funds must be applied toward Cartegraph AMS^[2] software and onboarding services.

A simple, yet powerful infrastructure asset management system, Cartegraph AMS empowers small communities to collect assets, assign work and monitor costs through an Android or iOS device. As the industry’s most cost-effective solution—starting at...

JULY 27, 2017- Huntsville, AL – GeoCue Group Inc. (GeoCue) is excited to announce a new GNSS positioning system that will allow users of DJI Phantom 4 Pros and Inspire 2 drones (as well as most drones using higher end cameras) to achieve survey-level accuracy with a minimum of ground control.  Loki, our new direct geopositioning system for small unmanned aerial systems solves the two fundamental problems associated with this technology:

• Positioning Accuracy – Loki uses the new AsteRx-m2 multi-frequency, multi-constellation GNSS engine from Septentrio.  With 448 hardware channels, finding and locking satellites is not a problem!
• Camera Events – GeoCue has invented a patent-pending method of detecting camera events from Phantoms/Inspires and synchronizing those events to GNSS positioning.  No modifications to the drone are necessary; the adapter cable is “plug and play.”

Loki is a self-contained kit that provides all of the hardware and software needed to equip your drone with a Post-Processed Kinematic (PPK) multifrequency, multi-constellation, differential, carrier-phase Global Satellite Navigation System (GNSS).  Using a local base station (not included), Loki provides centimeter level positioning with minimal, and in some cases, no ground control points (though GCPs are always recommended for quality assurance). 

“GeoCue has been a long time Septentrio OEM development partner,” said Neil Vancans, Vice President of...