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xyHt

Articles, news, events, and opinion from the geospatial industries and related professions. Find us on Twitter at . http://www.xyht.com
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The official page of xyHt, a geospatial magazine available in print and online. We are dedicated to producing the best feature stories, reporting on the most relevant events, and staying in touch with the wider community on all issues related to the geospatial industry and related professions. We welcome article ideas - just post here or email us.

04/11/2024

"Some issues that were not well accounted for in the current NSRS are continental drift and land deformation. But this time we have designed the modernized system to better account for these important types of changes on our dynamic planet."⁠
⁠
Replacing NAD 83 and NAVD 88 have been in the works for a long time; now the change is getting near. Read more about these changes here: https://www.xyht.com/gnsslocation-tech/noaas-new-geodetic-datum/

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)

04/08/2024

For nearly three decades, the foundational technology and design of precision levels for surveying has not changed much. It has not had to. Sometimes, when something is done right the best course is to stick with it.

Come take a look at the evolution of digital levels.

https://www.xyht.com/surveying/the-enduring-technology-of-digital-levels-part-one/

Trimble Geospatial and Civil Construction
ZEISS Group
Leica Geosystems

04/06/2024

The destructive threat of wildfire is a global concern. In 2022 Germany recorded 2,397 wildfires with a size of more than 3,058 hectares (7,556 acres) of destroyed forests.

To address this threat, an ongoing research project, Germany in cooperation with GGS, a German geospatial services firm, focuses on monitoring an overall forest area of 170 square kilometers (66 square miles) in Northeast Germany.

The goal was to determine the viability of using geospatial tools, including aerial surveys with both fixed-wing and UAV platforms enabled with AI and 5G, to create three vital tools...

Click here to read more:
https://www.xyht.com/aerialuas/ai-5g-and-geospatial-tech-team-up-to-predict-wildfire-threat/

04/02/2024

Every day more than 150,000 people drive past the interstate billboards advertising the Louisville Mega Cavern not realizing they just drove over what is classified as the largest commercial building in Kentucky, even though it is entirely underground.

What once was a massive subterranean limestone quarry in the heart of urban Louisville is now an environmentally conscious, high-security commercial storage facility that is so massive it contains the only fully underground aerial ropes challenge and zipline course in the world: The Louisville Mega Caverns.

Through all this development, the Mega Cavern never had an accurate land survey relating the recorded legal descriptions to the excavated portions with precise measurements to the horizontal extents and the vertical ground and ceiling elevations. During the summer of 2022, the Mega Caverns hired Qk4 - Engineering & Planning to begin a 10 month survey which encountered many challenges.

https://www.xyht.com/surveying/taking-surveying-underground/

NavVis

03/26/2024

Complex, dangerous and inhospitable environments are not where most people would prefer to work... this is where a modular mapping and surveying ecosystem comes into play. Whether you are in the mining, AEC or geospatial industries, make sure you take a look at this.

https://www.xyht.com/lidarimaging/introducing-exyn-nexys/

Exyn Technologies

03/16/2024

Novel Navigation Helps Japan Land on the Moon

The Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (SLIM), an uncrewed spacecraft from the land of the rising sun, successfully descended on the moon’s surface in January, making Japan the fifth country to do so. But what makes SLIM’s descent to the rocky lunar surface on January 19 extra special is its use of “vision-based navigation” that allowed the spacecraft to locate its landing area with unprecedented precision, landing within 100 meters (328 feet) of its target zone.

Previous lunar touchdowns had wider landing zones of about 10 kilometers (six miles). How was this precision achieved? With the help of camera payloads and image processing algorithms, the SLIM space craft measured and corrected its own position by continuously scanning the moon’s surface and then matching them with those found in highly detailed images of the moon’s surface that were previously captured by NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter and Japan’s Kaguya Orbiter.

The SLIM’s success in using this new pinpoint landing technology will contribute to future lunar probes.

“Our mission aims to unravel the origins of the Moon through composition analysis of rocks estimated to be derived from the lunar mantle using a multi-band spectral camera,” according to a Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) press release. “To achieve this, it is essential to land in the vicinity of the targeted crater, enabling precise observations that can only be accomplished through pinpoint landing.”

03/14/2024

The technology of underground utility mapping is on an exciting and promising trajectory. Multi-sensor approaches, even the prospect of quantum sensors, along with an explosion of phone/tablet-coupled lidar and camera sensors, digital twins, augmented- and mixed-reality platforms are all very exciting. But how do you encourage, entice, cajole, or mandate that such solutions get utilized?

https://www.xyht.com/energyutilities/mapping-what-lies-beneath/

03/12/2024

Vienna finds itself in a challenging situation. The capital of Austria, housing a population of nearly two million, stands as one of the largest and rapidly expanding cities in the European Union.

🏙️ Nevertheless, a city can only be deemed habitable if there is sufficient housing available. As a result, aspern Seestadt has emerged, being constructed on a previously used industrial site. This development embodies a futuristic vision while maintaining the traditional urban structure that Vienna was built upon.

Incorporating Geographic Information System (GIS) technology, urban planners are able to apply clean energy and low-emission strategies. This technology also aids in the long-term planning and ex*****on, ensuring that aspern Seestadt achieves a harmonious blend of sustainability and livability.

https://www.xyht.com/constructionbim/building-the-future/

Die Seestadt Wiens

03/10/2024

Trimble Announces Connected Climate Exchange

Trimble has announced the Connected Climate Exchange, a carbon marketplace to connect and aggregate verified data across the agriculture supply chain to enable a more sustainable future. To meet net zero commitments, Trimble offers new opportunities for industry stakeholders to quantify their sustainability reports, scale their businesses with climate offerings, and ultimately, minimize the negative effects of climate change.

Trimble's Connected Climate Exchange creates a streamlined process for aggregating data across farm organizations and verifying this data for emissions reductions and removals buyers. By connecting an ecosystem of farmers, agronomists, ag retailers, and carbon buyers in one marketplace, the Connected Climate Exchange enables participation in carbon markets and sustainability programs that were previously too time-consuming and complex.

03/09/2024

Surveying, UAVs, AI, GIS, Dracula, GNSS... Wait, Dracula?

Don't miss out on a single issue of xyHt. Get your free subscription today at www.xyht.com/subscribe.

03/07/2024

Robotic Excavator Landscapes and Builds Stone Walls

Excavators are dependable grubbers in construction sites. But there is a shortage of skilled workers who can operate them and other heavy machinery as the construction sector enters another period of labor shortfall. So how about turning to robots to increase productivity?

Researchers at ETH Zürich in Switzerland are doing just that with their 12-ton autonomous excavating machine. Nicknamed HEAP (hydraulic excavator for an autonomous purpose), this unmanned machinery relies on GNSS for localization, while lidar sensors and cameras that are mounted in the cabin and arm of the vehicle scan, digitize and segment images to help it manipulate stones and move earth.

In an experiment published in the journal Science Robotics, HEAP was able to construct a freestanding stone wall and a permanent retaining wall, as well as excavate free-form embankments with high precision.

"Construction sites are complex environments with many unpredictable events that will continue to be a challenge for robotic solutions," said Ryan Johns, the main author of the study, in an interview with AAAS News. "Robots will need humans to conduct and correct them, but they nonetheless carry the potential to amplify the productivity of workers by facilitating efficient multitasking."

03/07/2024

What happens when hundreds if not thousands of small drones start sharing the sky with general and commercial aviation? The inevitability of an encounter grows with every flight and the need to be protected is more imperative than ever.

What is currently being done to improve safety and what can we do until then?

https://www.xyht.com/aerialuas/behave-like-aviators/

03/04/2024

AI In Construction: Artificial intelligence is more than just a chat bot

AI's role in the construction industry extends far beyond being a mere chat bot. It will not replace humans in their jobs; instead, those individuals who possess the knowledge and skills to leverage its power will definitely benefit.

Initially, artificial intelligence was just another trendy concept in the field of technology, showcasing impressive yet impractical demonstrations, and lacking foresight on its potential impact on our everyday activities. However, 2022 brought a significant change with OpenAI's introduction of ChatGPT, leading to a noticeable and immediate influence on our professional lives.

Learn more about the effects of AI in the workplace: https://www.xyht.com/constructionbim/ai-in-construction/

McKinsey & Company

03/03/2024

Here is a look at upcoming Geospatial events. Which of these will you be attending?

03/02/2024

🛩 An aerial survey using lidar technology has revealed a vast ancient city in the Amazon, which had remained hidden for thousands of years due to dense vegetation. While the existence of ancient ruins in eastern Ecuador or elsewhere is not a new discovery, the immense size of this finding is remarkable.

Dr. Stephen Rostain, the research lead and director of investigation at France's National Centre for Scientific Research, comments, "This site is older than any other known in the Amazon. It challenges our Eurocentric perspective on civilization and prompts us to reconsider our notions of culture and society."

https://www.xyht.com/lidarimaging/lidar-uncovers-massive-ancient-city-in-amazon/

CNRS News

03/01/2024

⚡️ Here’s a news flash: Artificial intelligence is a thing. It’s creeped into many facets of our lives and businesses, and this month in our annual issue focusing on construction, we look at how it is changing that industry.

Jeff Thoreson gives you a quick glance at what you will see in our March 2024 issue of xyHt Magazine.

https://www.xyht.com/constructionbim/looking-forward-ai-and-construction/

02/29/2024

Before we spring into March, take another flip through our February 2024 issue of xyHt magazine. The cover story about scanning Dracula's Castle has been very popular among subscribers but don't miss out on the rest of the great articles in this issue.

https://www.xyht.com/magazine/magazine-magazine/xyht-digital-magazine-february-2024/

02/27/2024

GPS-free Navigation System wins NASA Prize

Navigating safely in GPS-denied locations can be a challenge. But the company Skyline Nav AI is offering a novel solution. By combining computer vision algorithms and 3D lidar, the American technology firm believes it has cracked the problem of mobility in spaces with limited or zero GPS connections on Earth and even on the Moon.

And NASA has taken notice. It named the company one of the seven winners of the 2023 NASA Entrepreneurs Challenge Prize. Skyline Nav AI successfully pitched its technological solution in building a “visual, inertial, and additional sensor platform that can be used for positioning and navigating on the Moon, Mars and other celestial bodies.” The winning team received the $85,000 prize plus the chance to meet investors and the possibility to work with NASA in the future.

02/25/2024

To improve urban air quality monitoring and help keep their citizens healthy, cities around the world are now combining traditional data capture techniques with geospatial technologies.

🚙 If you happen to be driving or walking around Washington. D.C., this past summer, then there is a good chance that you crossed paths with one of the blue and white cars that were cruising along the streets of the U.S. capital. And although the vehicles may look like another ride-hailing car, they are definitely not out and about to fetch passengers. Rather, they are scooping samples of air, which will then be analyzed and mapped for traces of harmful chemicals and particles.

📉 Charting air pollution at the street-level is made possible by Aclima’s mobile-mapping technology that captures billions of air quality data points as the cars move along the roads, while at the same time effectively ascribing location information to them.

Read more about how the data is collected and then plotted to assist in monitoring air quality.

https://www.xyht.com/enviroag/a-breath-of-fresh-air/

02/23/2024

🦇 On Halloween Day 2023, Forrest Briggs, chief operations officer at LiDARUSA was in Dracula's castle working on a job.

🏰 Briggs spent two-and-a-half days scanning the ruins, castle grounds and garden to assist the National Institute of Heritage in Romania to begin digitally documenting the nation’s cultural heritage.

Read more about this project here: https://www.xyht.com/.../preserving-the-worlds-cultural.../

LiDARUSA
Institutul Național al Patrimoniului

02/20/2024

MAPPS president Kelly Francis talks about the exciting future of the trade association

This article is the first in a series of four focusing on a trade association that recently celebrated its 40th anniversary and continues making meaningful impacts in the geospatial community. The first article is an interview with Kelly Francis, current MAPPS president, who discusses the relevance, positive impacts and short- and long-term direction of MAPPS. Future articles will highlight MAPPS initiatives such as federal agency liaison, emerging leaders, and geo-woman programs.

https://www.xyht.com/surveying/the-mission-of-mapps/

MAPPS

02/18/2024

👷‍♂️ In an interview with xyHt’s Linda Duffy, NSPS president-elect Davey Edwards, shares information about ongoing NSPS initiatives intended to alleviate shortages of qualified workers in the survey profession. Edwards is survey director for Baseline|DCCM.

https://www.xyht.com/surveying/personnel-moves/

02/17/2024

Wildfire Preparedness: UP42 and OroraTech Facilitate Geospatial Data Access

UP42, a geospatial developer platform and marketplace, and OroraTech, a provider of space-based thermal intelligence, have signed a partnership agreement to grant easy and fast access to global high-resolution thermal-infrared imagery. OroraTech delivers low-latency, global coverage, near-real-time thermal data products.

OroraTech, the first of its kind to join UP42's growing marketplace of nearly 80 data and processing partners, provides valuable insights to customers during unpredictable events through its newly launched thermal sensor, FOREST-2. Via UP42’s marketplace, the company offers data products including, on-demand tasking for near real-time data access from anywhere in the world with 400km coverage and 200m resolution daily and access to an ever-growing archive of thermal imagery for past event analysis.

02/15/2024

Likely, everyone can agree that we prefer to make informed decisions when spending our hard-earned money. This holds true for companies in the market for a laser scanner however the amount of comparison data available more resembles a barren wasteland.

Fortunately for us, there is hope. In the past few years, organizations like the Unites States Institute of Building Documentation (USIBD) and the folks at Go-Geomatics have started taking matters into their own capable hands. During Geo week 2023 the USIBD performed a live “scanner shoot-out.” Its goal was to run as many scanners through the same environment and conditions as possible.

https://www.xyht.com/lidarimaging/with-friends-like-these-who-needs-consumer-reviews/

02/13/2024

Tech Solutions to Monitor Plastic Trash from Space 🗑

The German Earth Observation and software company, EOMap, was one of the three winners of the CASSINI Prize for Digital Space Applications. The CASSINI competition focuses on commercial space-based solutions that can help detect and remove plastics, microplastics and other litter from the oceans and waterways.

EOMap was recognized for its ‘Eyes on Plastic’ web map that can scan plastic pollution in rivers and coastal areas by combining data from Copernicus satellites, on-site live cameras, and crowdsourced information, almost in near-real time. The other noteworthy awardees include SciDrones which uses UAVs and advanced Artificial Intelligence tech to scan for plastics, and Geomatys, which leverages meteorological and oceanographic models to predict where plastics tend to drift in the oceans. All three winners received the same amount of 950.000 euros from the European Agency for the Space Program (EUSPA).

02/12/2024

Drones in School: Training the Next Generation

🏫 STEM education is preparing the next generation of workers for exciting careers in technology-related fields.

💻 Jobs that didn’t exist 20 years ago offer new opportunities for young people who have grown up in a connected, computer-savvy world. Whether racing drones, playing video games, or programming new apps, their life experiences and skills form the foundation for future contributions to businesses and the community.

EduEverything is is dedicated to hands-on STEM learning. Learn more here:
https://www.xyht.com/aerialuas/drones-in-school/

02/10/2024

Robert Szucs is a digital cartographer turned artist who saw the potential to turn nature’s patterns into contemporary artwork. This ocean drainage map was a months-long project, that included “a ton of manual work,” including cleaning data, figuring out how to categorize millions of lines into a handful of ocean drainages, and then zooming in along the coastlines and manually checking for and fixing errors and inconsistencies. “I think the most surprising thing about the map is how far south the Arctic Ocean's drainage basin reaches. I wasn't expecting it to reach the contiguous United States in multiple places.”

https://www.xyht.com/cartography-2/how-our-continent-drains/

02/09/2024

Mapped: The Heating of U.S. Homes

Well into the winter of 2024, we wonder “just how do we keep warm?” Joshua Stevens at Maps.com has answered that question by developing a map of the U.S. showing all the heat sources by region.

Take a look at page 10 of our February issue to read more: http://tinyurl.com/xyht0224

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The new LP360 Cloud from GeoCue is a groundbreaking advancement that allows the real-time streaming, PowerSearch, and organization of nearly 100GB LiDAR data directly within LP360 Desktop. Effortlessly locate specific geolocated points, including metadata, and experience an unprecedented level of efficiency in storing, managing, and collaborating on geospatial data. Click the link below to read the press release on EIN Presswire: Press Releases! https://world.einnews.com/pr_news/646495388/lp360-drone-and-geospatial-software-adds-convenience-and-benefits-of-the-cloud

You never know what you may see at the Commerical UAV conference! What would you name this robotic dog? #spot #gofetch #fido #xyht #commericaluav #bostondynamics #autonomous Boston Dynamics Commercial UAV Expo

NavVis, UAV Factory and Woolpert are just a few companies mentioned in our weekly news recap. Read more here: https://www.xyht.com/pressreleases/xyht-weekly-news-recap-04-23-2021/

We are throwing it back to an article published in 2018 in honor of St. Patrick's Day today... A surveyor with a construction company in Northern Ireland uses UAVs to develop highway construction and for adjoining quarry quantities. https://www.xyht.com/aerialuas/over-roads-and-quarries/

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xyHt: your geospatial magazine

This is the official page of xyHt, a geospatial magazine for professionals and interested parties—in print and online. We’re dedicated to catching all the news, producing the best feature stories, reporting on the most relevant events, and staying in touch with the wider community on all issues related to the geospatial industry and related professions. We welcome article ideas and news items—just post here or email us!