Rapidly Making Colorful Landsat-8 Imagery Composite with Free Advanced Image Stretching and Pan-sharpening Software from GeoSage - See more at: http://www.gisuser.com/content/view/30197/2/#sthash.36sxzlnJ.dpuf
OpenCage Data Looks to Open Up OpenStreetMap Data to Users - While the service is in launch mode there's no setup fee and a generous pricing scheme is being offered to clients who can receive there data in a variety of ways including FTP, email etc... Data are also refreshed (updated) as often as required. Data are available in a variety of useful formats including CSV, geoJSON, and SHP (or in a custom data format)
Catching Up on What Happened at State of the map US 2013 (SOTMUS) - Well, another State of the Map US event has come and gone and if you happen to be anything like me then you're likely mumbling to yourself... "dam, why wasn't I there this year??" Indeed you do wish you were there I bet as about 400 Geogeeks, developers, consultants and more hit San Fran to talk everything OSM and more. Luckily for all of us, the OSM community is awesome at sharing!
7 Awesome Things To do at ESRIUC 2013 - There's no shortage of things to do at ESRIUC, that's a fact! This year will mark my 15th UC and like most years, hammering down exactly what I'll do all week is a challenge - there's simply so many things to select from.
Landsat 8 Set to Extend Long Run of Observing Earth - NASA launched the Landsat Data Continuity Mission satellite on February 11. Since then, NASA mission engineers and scientists, with USGS collaboration, have been putting the satellite through its paces
Hot Products, Innovation, Business Integration and more at HxGNLive - A number of themes and crucial take-aways are worthy a quick mention when recapping this record-setting event. Like many tech conferences, common themes and hot buzz topics that emerged included: The Cloud, the crowd, mobile, big data, and sensors.
A GIS Laboratory, Indeed - A Look at Arizona State's GIS master's program - A good place to get a sense of where the geographic information system (GIS) field is headed is Lattie F. Coor Hall at Arizona State University in Tempe, Ariz. That's the home of the 30-credit-hour Masters of Advanced Study in GIS (MAS-GIS) Program
Top 10 Features in The New Google Maps - Google has reinforced that Maps are all about exploring and discovering, especially on mobile. The experience will only get better, for the developer and end user.
AEC Firms Lose an Average 100K a Year - Architectural, engineering and environmental firms she works for easily lose $100,000 each year through inefficient and ineffective practices
Canada Post Suing Over the use of Postal Code - An interesting issue is unfolding in Canada and quite frankly its darned amazing! Imagine this, you have a website and offer some kind of product or service.
Location, Location! 10 Map Services Your Business MUST Be Listed in - You have a business... perhaps a bar, a coffee shop, or maybe a consulting firm. Regardless of the business type, if you have a brick and mortar presence then you need to get your business listed in some of the popular online, location-based resources and search tools.
Editing OpenStreetMap (OSM) Just Got Easy, Really Easy! I'm sure that many (if not most) of you have often wanted to mess around with OSM and add/edit some features but were a little lazy - I'm guilty! But now we have no excuse thanks to the new OpenStreetMap in-browser map editing tools available from the iD Editor
Creative Cartography Meets Music in The Song Map - Oh yes, I love art. I also love music too, heck, who doesn't right? Well, I know you GeoGeeks and music lovers will really dig this one as we stumble onto yet another amazing cartographic product that quite simply will make you say WOW
Why is Landsat important and the Landsat Missions Timeline - Landsat has the optimal ground resolution and spectral bands to efficiently track land use and to document land change due to climate change, urbanization, drought, wildfire, biomass changes (carbon assessments), and a host of other natural and human-caused changes.
Mobile Market Trends show Apple users most loyal - Results from a recent survey indicate that Mobile Market Trends reveal Apple users are most loyal, T-Mobile customers most likely to bail - are you still confident that your clients are loyal to your brand?
10 Must Have Gadgets and Technology for the Remote Office - Chances are good that if you happen to work in technology or you're a consultant, that you may be working remotely or from a home-based office at some time soon - or perhaps you already do
This is a section devoted to providing our valued contributors with a corner to do whatever they like with and discuss Geo/Tech topics that are near and dear to them! Be sure to check out ALL of our experts for commentary, editorial, links, and advice! Interested in becoming a contributing expert? Contact us and tell us about yourself
Two of the world's top technologies are consistently pairing up in what many believe is the evolution of information.
AURORA, Colo. - February 23, 2012 - Software companies are integrating geographic information systems (GIS) technology and social media to map people's tweets and other social media platforms with geospatial data.
GIS paired with social media has been used in every major disaster over the past two years.
Lee Mitchell, owner of G.A.I.A. Professionals, a successful GIS technology firm, lived on the waterfront line of the BP Deepwater Horizon disaster.
"While the NOAA map helped me monitor the spill and official response, the social maps were by far the most helpful because that is where I could find people with experiences like mine that weren't nearly being addressed through any official means," says Mitchell.
Mitchell says the feelings of confusion and powerlessness can be nearly overwhelming in a disaster situation and the ability to connect with others and share experiences so that you don't feel so alone is very important.
"I found social media maps to be a great help in making those connections in times of disaster," adds Mitchell.
Here are a few other examples of how GIS and social media are playing an important role to connect people in times of disaster:
Haiti
During the 2010 Haiti earthquake that registered 7.0 on the Richter scale at least 52 aftershocks measuring 4.5 or greater, an estimated three million people were affected and some 316,000 died. But, without GIS technology, experts believe the disaster could have been worse.
In a Esri conference video (http://video.esri.com/watch/163/haiti-the-importance-of-social-media-use-during-a-disaster) about Haiti, Craig Fugate, administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), says that in big disasters the initial response is generally not the government, it is individuals helping each other, trying to find out what is going on.
In this age of social media, people can share information in real time. To capture this, Esri's data and services included a 25-meter reference grid of Haiti, an Esri Geo Viewer, and Haiti base map data from the United Nations available at ArcGIS Online. Esri-generated earthquake and recovery maps were available for both the media and public.
"Our job is to help where we can empower our users with better GIS support," says Russ Johnson, director of public safety solutions for Esri, in a press release. "As soon as we learned of the terrible event in Haiti, we activated our emergency operational procedures to assist emergency services, humanitarian relief, health professionals, NGOs [nongovernmental organizations], and others. These organizations are working extremely hard to make a difference. We're working to assist their efforts."
Japan
The 2011 earthquake off the Pacific coast of Tohoku registered a 9.0 on the Richter scale and killed more than 15,000 people. As outlined in this American Sentinel University blog post, 'GIS Technology Critical to Managing Japan Disaster,' (available at http://www.americansentinel.edu/2011/03/24/gis-technology-critical-to-managing-japan-disaster/) GIS technology helped find victims of the Japan Earthquake.
Google People Finder used GIS to help individuals track down loved ones. The East Honshu Island, Japan, Military Grid Reference System provided a seamless plane coordinate system across jurisdictional boundaries and map scales with GIS technology.
ArcGIS was used to facilitate precise position referencing with GPS, produce web-based map portals that enabled a practical system of geoaddresses and a universal map index. Maps were created based on street views and satellite imagery with links to tweets, YouTube videos and Flickr photos from the area.
Hurricane Irene
Hurricane Irene zipped across the Atlantic Ocean and ravaged the East Coast last August. Some 50 people died and more than $10 billion in damages were inflicted. Considering this hurricane hit highly populated areas, the damages and fatalities could have been much worse. According to ctovision.com, the average citizen had a wealth of accurate (and useful) hurricane information to choose from, including Twitter/Flickr/YouTube overlays on Google Earth.
Popular blogger The GIS Doctor said, "Geographers and GIS pros are all over this storm. Unlike the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami, which had a ton of reactionary GIS development, hurricanes provide the opportunity to develop datasets, applications, and analysis before the storm arrives. There are a number of great applications and datasets that have been generated in the past four days, with many more to come over the next several days."
Significant real-time maps included The New York Times hurricane tracker, MSNBC hurricane tracker, Esri and CNN.
And after the hurricane, GIS played another important role to help insurers accurately pay claims.
Esri's Mark McCoy notes in an Esri.com interview that ArcGIS plays a crucial role after a disastrous event and insurers can use this information to make certain their customers are as safe as possible and that they carry the appropriate coverage for any catastrophe that might affect that location. ArcGIS also helps insurers accurately rate the risk to ensure they are collecting appropriate premiums for the losses that are likely to be incurred.
GIS technology can transform society through better decision-making using a geographic perspective and has become an essential tool for natural disaster research to predict damage as well as assessing post-disaster damage.
Effective natural disaster planning programs can help save lives and reduce the level of damage that occurs during catastrophic natural events and American Sentinel University positions their GIS students for success in the industry.
About American Sentinel University
American Sentinel University delivers the competitive advantages of accredited associate, bachelor's and master's online degree programs focused on the needs of high-growth sectors, including information technology, computer science, GIS, computer information systems and business intelligence degrees. The university is accredited by the Distance Education and Training Council (DETC), which is listed by the U.S. Department of Education as a nationally recognized accrediting agency and is a recognized member of the Council for Higher Education Accreditation.
OpenCage Data Looks to Open Up OpenStreetMap Data to Users
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This is a section devoted to providing our valued contributors with a corner to do whatever they like with and discuss Geo/Tech topics that are near and dear to them! Be sure to check out ALL of our experts for commentary, editorial, links, and advice! Interested in becoming a contributing expert? 
