T he future of Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) may include as many as 120 satellites a Chinese industry official said this week. Unlike the transparent process in Europe and the United States, China is developing its GNSS, Compass in secret. So it is significant when a public statement is made about the program. China Daily has a report from a recently concluded summit, sponsored by the State Bureau of Surveying and Mapping, where an update on the Compass project was presented.
China aims to make Compass a navigation satellite system of 35 satellites by 2020, which can offer global service.
Compass, or Beidou (Big Dipper) in Chinese, is expected to rival the US-developed GPS, the EU’s GPS and Russia’s Global Navigation Satellite System, earlier reports said.
Officials representing the four systems are now in negotiations to make their civilian-use technologies compatible, Hu Gang, vice-president of Beijing BDStar Navigation Co Ltd, said during a two-day national geological information industry summit that ended yesterday.
D uncan Geere at the British tech site Pocket-lint recently spoke with NAVTEQ VP, Serge Bussat on the future of GPS navigation:
“The phone will not replace the sat-nav”, [Mr. Bussat] says confidently, explaining instead that his company’s philosophy lies in integrated solutions. Maps that reside in your car dashboard.
Currently, solutions like that are available for high-end cars but not to the majority of consumers. The issue being that cars have a much longer development cycle - many years - than most portable satnav units. “The phone is an intermediate step”, he adds.
T he United States’ National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) have released a new digital topographic map of Earth. The map was created from nearly 1.3 million individual stereo-pair images collected by the Japanese Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer, or Aster. The instrument was aboard NASA’s Terra spacecraft.
Woody Turner, Aster program scientist at NASA Headquarters said pf the new digital map, "This is the most complete, consistent global digital elevation data yet made available to the world. This unique global set of data will serve users and researchers from a wide array of disciplines that need elevation and terrain information."
I f like most folks these days, looking at the value of your 401k causes you pain, you might want to consider diversifying your portfolio into more tangible assets. Like antique maps. So says Toby Walne , of The Financial Mail’s This is Money:
Antique maps have proved a richly rewarding investment over the past decade, thanks to a growing appreciation of their unique historical appeal. Prices of the most collectible maps and atlases have more than doubled.
Philip Curtis of the Map House in Knightsbridge, west London, tells Mr. Walne, ‘Ancient maps and atlases fetch thousands, but of the printed versions it is the first examples that include America that are the most valuable. Among the most valuable of ancient maps one by Martin Waldseemuller which was the the first world map with the term America. Dating to 1507, the only surviving copy was sold for a record $10 million eight years ago.
However, you don’t have to have a huge bankroll to start collecting. The website reports that the first modern atlas, the Theatrum Orbis Terrarum, dating to 1570 can be boughted for was produced by Abraham Ortelius. It was so successful that many editions were produced. Even today pages can be picked up for £400 ($660) to £600 ($992).
Of course anyone that considers an ancient map merely an investment is missing out. as Peter Barber, head of map collections at the British Library and author of the authoritative Map Book, is quoted as saying, ‘The greatest value you get from maps is enjoyment - they let you see the world as others did hundreds of years ago.’
Adena Schutzberg at Directions Magazine recently reviewed GIS Cartography: A Guide to Effective Map Design. It’s a new book by Gretchen N. Peterson aimed at helping GIS users create better maps. It’s available on Amazon where its gotten a few good reviews from GIS users.
The book introduces the need for good design in the first two chapters, but really hits its stride beginning in Chapter 3, titled “Layout Design.” Here the author presents a checklist of primary and secondary elements of map design, then walks through each one in detail. While I might quibble with where some elements fall in the checklist (I’d put data source information as a primary element, rather than a secondary one), this is a valuable list. Also valuable are the best practices for each of 25 elements gleaned from Peterson’s 10 years of work and research in the field.
In short, this is a valuable book to skim through and then keep nearby while designing maps by hand or with a GIS. While focusing on some best practices, Peterson regularly invites users to think and design outside the box - so long as there is a good reason to do so. She also offers a companion website with resources and a poster to remind readers of the salient points in the book.
L ocation based games have been around a little while, but with the increasing number of GPS-enabled smartphones it seems they are about to take off. FastFoot-Challenge is a multiplayer GPS game for mobile phones. It’s played by 4 or 5 players in an area with a radius of a little more than half a mile.
One player is X. The other 3 or 4 players are Runners. X tries to keep out of reach of the Runners for 25 minutes, without leaving the round playing field. The runners win, if one of them catches X. Player’s positions are constantly updated on a radar screen displayed on their smartphones. However the Runners only see the position of X every 6 minutes. X on the other hand can see the Runner’s positions all the time.
Now if all this sounds like little more than a high-tech version of tag; you should know that the app won 2nd Runner-Up at the NAVTEQ Global LBS Challenge and was named, "Best Real World Game" by the jury of the International Mobile Gaming Award 2009.
There’s a YouTube video featuring young Germans playing the game accompanied by techno-pop music here:
T emperatures here in Texas are passing the 100 degree mark every day and most of the country seems to be sweltering. So now would seem like a good to pursue indoor (air-conditioned) activities. With that in mind, here’s a round up of some map exhibitions going on this summer.
Mariners, Meridians and Monsters: Exploring the History of Maps in Fact and Fiction
Through August 15, in Upper Main Gallery, LSU Library , Baton Rouge, LA
Highlights of the exhibition include Abraham Ortelius’ 1579 world atlas, Peter Heylin’s Cosmographie (1679), early maps of the Pacific and the poles, an 18th-century reproduction of the ancient Roman road map known as the Peutinger Table, archeological maps from Napoleon’s expedition to Egypt and even a map for the blind. There are also sections on humorous maps, maps in fiction and mythology and bird’s-eye views.
Included in the exhibit is Guillaume de Lisle’s “Carte de la Louisiana et du Cours du Misissippi” (1718)—the first map to identify “Tejas” as a place. On loan from the Center for American History at the University of Texas will be Fiorenzo Galli’s “Texas” (1826) which has the distinction of being the first printed map to show Texas separately from the rest of the continent. Maps by E.F. Lee (1836), J. Disturnell (1847) and J. DeCordova (1849)–all used extensively by immigrants to Texas—are on display, as well.
This exhibit features dozens of maps, atlases and artifacts from the Society’s collection, including an atlas from 1595, displayed alongside current road, city and tourist maps. The Society’s extensive collection of early exploration and travel maps of North America includes document maps and atlases used by Europeans to understand the geography of the "new world" and illustrates how that understanding changed over time.
Samuel de Champlain was not only known as the founder of New France, he was also a skilled cartographer. In recognition of the Champlain Quadricentennial, this exhibit features a stunning private collection of maps chronicling the evolution of the Lake Champlain region, Vermont and the United States from 1635 to 1911. Visitors will see how successive layers of land acquisition and use were made manifest as mapmakers depicted European conquest and settlement. Maps express the cultural, economic and political ideals of their makers and of the audiences for which they were made. The exhibit will encourage the public to think critically about the meanings of the maps they see every day.
D rivers headed to Clarksburg (Maryland) High School are being sent down a dead end road by MapQuest and some GPS units; much to the annoyance of the people that live on the narrow road WJLA News reports;
"MapQuest has our address all mixed up," [Mark] McDevitt said.
As ABC 7 crews approach their destination, they can clearly see the high school on the left but MapQuest tells them to take a right onto Wims Road, making their final destination a bit off.
A program started in 2007 to allow Homeland Security Department use overhead and mapping imagery from existing satellites is being killed by Secretary Janet Napolitano the Associated Press reports . Citing anonymous sources the AP said the secretary decided to end the program after being told be law enforcement officials that it was not an urgent issue.
The program was announced in 2007 and was to have the Homeland Security Department use overhead and mapping imagery from existing satellites for homeland security and law enforcement purposes.
The program, called the National Applications Office, has been delayed because of privacy and civil liberty concerns.
E urope’s Galileo satellite navigation system is bogged down by internal disputes and delays and will likely be more expensive and launch years later than its stakeholders have been led to expect. That’s according to a critical analysis by Rob Coppinger in FlightGlobal magazine .
Among the potential problems Mr. Coppinger notes:
There are questions about using Arianespace’s EADS Astrium Ariane 5 rocket. Suggestions have bee made that 13 Samara Space Centre Soyuz 2-1b boosters would also be needed, which may extend length of time needed to get the entire constellation into orbit.
The European Commission previously announced it would sign Galileo procurement contracts the first quarter of this year. Now contract awards are to begin from the third quarter of this year.
Astrium CEO Evert Dudok told the magazine that splitting the contract for the initial 26 Galileo satellites among two competitors could add up to 40% more to the cost of each one as economies of scale would be lost.
Also there are questions being raised about the availability of rockets to put all the satellites into orbit.
I have decided to bring back the weekly "GPS Gadget of the Week" feature. There's just too many crazy GPS applications around to let them go unnoticed.
12/08/08
-An Amazon store has been added. I have no illusions about getting rich from this site. The main purpose of the store is to justify in my own mind the time I spend on this blog.
11/19/08
-A related post feature has been added to direct you to similar posts on a topic.
Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) have released a new digital topographic map of Earth. The map was created from nearly 1.3 million individual stereo-pair images collected by the Japanese Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer, or Aster. The instrument was aboard NASA’s Terra spacecraft.
consider diversifying your portfolio into more tangible assets. Like antique maps. So says 
smartphones it seems they are about to take off. 
Highlights of the exhibition include Abraham Ortelius’ 1579 world atlas, Peter Heylin’s Cosmographie (1679), early maps of the Pacific and the poles, an 18th-century reproduction of the ancient Roman road map known as the Peutinger Table, archeological maps from Napoleon’s expedition to Egypt and even a map for the blind. There are also sections on humorous maps, maps in fiction and mythology and bird’s-eye views.
Included in the exhibit is Guillaume de Lisle’s “Carte de la Louisiana et du Cours du Misissippi” (1718)—the first map to identify “Tejas” as a place. On loan from the Center for American History at the University of Texas will be Fiorenzo Galli’s “Texas” (1826) which has the distinction of being the first printed map to show Texas separately from the rest of the continent. Maps by E.F. Lee (1836), J. Disturnell (1847) and J. DeCordova (1849)–all used extensively by immigrants to Texas—are on display, as well.
This exhibit features dozens of maps, atlases and artifacts from the Society’s collection, including an atlas from 1595, displayed alongside current road, city and tourist maps. The Society’s extensive collection of early exploration and travel maps of North America includes document maps and atlases used by Europeans to understand the geography of the "new world" and illustrates how that understanding changed over time.
Samuel de Champlain was not only known as the founder of New France, he was also a skilled cartographer. In recognition of the Champlain Quadricentennial, this exhibit features a stunning private collection of maps chronicling the evolution of the Lake Champlain region, Vermont and the United States from 1635 to 1911. Visitors will see how successive layers of land acquisition and use were made manifest as mapmakers depicted European conquest and settlement. Maps express the cultural, economic and political ideals of their makers and of the audiences for which they were made. The exhibit will encourage the public to think critically about the meanings of the maps they see every day.
some GPS units; much to the annoyance of the people that live on the narrow road 
likely be more expensive and launch years later than its stakeholders have been led to expect. That’s according to a critical analysis by 
