Chances are, you’ve heard the buzz on cloud computing, and although it may seem like a relatively new term, many of you already use it today – with online games and books, video and audio streaming, even your personal email. Simply put, cloud computing allows you to access data from a virtual space, the “cloud” if you will, from any place at any time.

So, why the buzz all of a sudden? Cloud computing can help businesses save money by reducing costs associated with storing and managing data on their own servers. Additionally, cloud providers can update resources as they become available, so you can have access to the most up-to-date information at a given time. As many data sources are becoming more and more complex, many organizations are having difficulties maintaining their datasets, thus desiring new alternatives.

For the GIS community, the size, resolution, quality, and number of geospatial resources is rapidly growing. Now, organizations that require geospatial data can choose from a variety of data types and modes of delivery – all of which have their own benefits and drawbacks. Luckily, more and more geospatial providers are moving toward the cloud to allow users to access and even analyze their data.

Providers can use the cloud as a mode of selling their data, enabling users to purchase terrain data in their area of interest. More importantly, however, providers can create online applications with which users can perform terrain calculations and analyses without purchasing large datasets, paying only when they use the applications.

Simple operations such as obtaining the height, profile, or viewshed of a particular area, in addition to more complex, industry-specific analyses now can be performed online. From insurance providers analyzing the risk of various natural disasters, to telecommunications specialists determining the line of sight between towers and locating them in optimum locations, the ways in which geospatial professionals can use cloud-stored elevation data are endless.

Please watch our Webinar entitled “Web Services and OGC Compliance” to learn more about cloud computing and our cloud-based product, TerrainOnDemand.

Registration is now open for our next Webinar, highlighting geospatial Web services and the benefits of compliancy with the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) standards and specifications – supporting the interoperability of geospatial products.

Date: Tuesday, August 3, 2010
Time: 9:00am Mountain Daylight Time

Click here to register or to watch any of our previous Webinars.

If you would like information about our second quarter financial results for 2010, please listen to our conference call.

Date: Tuesday, August 10, 2010
Time: 4:30 pm ET (2:30 pm MT)
Call: +1-416-695-6622 or +1-800-766-6630 approximately 10 minutes before

To learn more, read the press release.

In our digital world of 3D modeling, virtual reality, and online and real-time viewing, mapping will never be the same. Flat printouts, created by contour lines that guessed at the actual dimensions of terrain elevation, are gone. The National Mapping Accuracy Standard of 1947 required no more than 10% of tested elevations be in error more than one-half of the contour interval. By contrast, NEXTMap data from Intermap Technologies has an average RMSE of .65 meters with an absolute contour accuracy of 7 feet. Internal analysis further indicates 3-foot contours can be accurately depicted.

Because it does not have polygon topology, contour data is not considered vector data. Contours have line topology; however, spatial topology is needed to perform accurate spatial analysis on vector data. Although certain software can identify what other spatial data objects intersect a particular contour, that’s all they can do. The fact is that accurate spatial analysis can only be performed on the data that created the contours, not the actual contour map itself.

By providing additional context, technology can be used to enhance 2D software applications in a 3D environment. This is accomplished by creating a triangulated irregular network (TIN). A TIN model more accurately represents a surface through a set of contiguous, non-overlapping triangles, thereby reflecting the actual 3D nature of the surface being mapped. Inside each triangle, created from a set of points called apexes, a plane represents the surface. TINs essentially help us turn flat maps into accurate depictions of the earth’s 3D surface.

First implemented in the 1970s to define surface models, TINs became more common in the 1980s thanks to the development of computer-aided design, or CAD. The development of 3D modeling and virtual realities in the 1990s allowed TINs to gain further importance and, with the growing availability of large-area height datasets and their associated viewing requirements, TINs grew to be extremely popular in the late ‘90s. The current requirements of online and real-time viewing in today’s real world make TINs an essential mapping. In the future, TIN will become an everyday technology for each of us. The world isn’t flat, of course; using digital mapping technology and depictions, our mapping surfaces can take on the actual dimensions of the earth which we live.

TIN mapping is essential when developing contour plots and survey drawings, surface design, volumetric calculations, surface visualization, architectural and 3D visualization, and GIS, as well as PND/PDA and SAT/Nav applications. Whenever an industry requires extremely accurate 3D depictions, TIN mapping can present the world as it actually is – without educated guesses or inaccurate contour lines.

TIN maps are created using DEM gridded data or irregular points. For a more complete picture, data can be combined from different sources and accuracies. There are many products available with which to create TINs from point datasets; some will even provide optimization of DEM data into TINs. By using multiple data points from a variety of sources that are then combined into a 3D mapping system, a real-world surface can be more accurately depicted.

TINs have growing applications in landscape modeling, 3D visualization, engineering and design applications, architectural visuals (that go beyond the traditional 2D blueprint), city modeling, and online planning and browsing. A 3D online model allows visitors to more accurately view the actual dimensions of an area of land, for instance. Aside from its daily practical applications, TIN technology is widely being used for movies and computer games that allow the digital world to portray a more accurate view of reality.

Are you are searching for a better way to manage large datasets? If so, check out Intermap Technologies’ new Web services portal, called TerrainOnDemand. It provides you with access to detailed and rich geospatial information and geo-registered map images – based on our highly reliable NEXTMap digital elevation data – that can be displayed via any Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC)-compliant software.

To give you more efficient data management systems, we designed TerrainOnDemand to meet OGC’s goals of interoperability: You now have access to our Internet-hosted solution that not only reduces your need to store and manage datasets locally, but also is compatible with your existing application environment and data access requirements.

As an OGC-compliant platform, TerrainOnDemand takes advantage of both WMS and WCS functionalities: instead of displaying only images like many Web service offerings, our portal provides you with elevation data in your area of interest in addition to map images. This combination allows you to benefit from the whole content (and not just the images) of your data.

Use TerrainOnDemand Web services to locate, purchase, and analyze data. You can benefit from specific applications such as:

• TerrainAnalyst Portal – to answer spatial analysis questions such as height, profile, or viewshed
• Online Terrain Profiles for microwave link planning – to determine if there is an unobstructed line of sight between two network towers, enabling the placement of towers in optimum locations
• Risk Assessment Portal – to assess the risk of various natural hazards, such as flood and earthquake
• Administrator Portal – to manage access to elements of TerrainOnDemand, and obtain metrics on data usage

Get started, and learn about TerrainOnDemand today!

Intermap Technologies^® will be presenting a paper and exhibiting at the MidAmerica GIS Consortium (MAGIC) Symposium, set for April 18-22 in Kansas City’s Westin Crown Center. The MAGIC states include Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, and South Dakota – all states for which NEXTMap^® USA data is completely (or very nearly completely) available right now.

At MAGIC, we’ll present “NEXTMap USA: A New National Elevation Layer for the United States,” which will provide a lot of information about the “whys” and “hows” of NEXTMap USA’s collection, as well as the way in which it’s enabling a wide range of GIS applications across the country. If you’ll be at MAGIC, the paper presentation is scheduled for 1:30 – 3 p.m. on April 21 in the Penn Valley Room; please join us!

Did you know that Intermap Technologies^® is on Facebook and Twitter? Visit our pages to get the latest updates on our company – including news, press releases, products, and industry-specific information.

Become a fan on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to stay informed about Intermap!

Strategy Analytics, a blog that follows high-tech business issues around the world, has a posting centered on Intermap Technologies^®’ data being used for several applications within in the automotive industry.

The posting also mentions Intermap’s^® recently signed agreements with Garmin, which will use Intermap’s NEXTMap^® data for the United States and Western Europe in its consumer electronics devices, and with Tele Atlas, which will use NEXTMap data in its navigation products and services. NEXTMap-equipped Garmin devices will start appearing in the market in the first half of this year; the launch of Tele Atlas’ products using NEXTMap data is targeted for late 2010.

The complete Strategy Analytics blog posting can be read here.

Fast Company, a Web site and magazine that uncovers the best and upcoming practices in creativity in the marketplace, named Intermap Technologies the 10th-most innovative mobile company in the world. Focusing on Intermap’s AccuTerra iPhone application, the magazine regards the award winning app as “one of the most ambitious pieces of iPhone software to date.”

The lists were created by Fast Company’s editorial team, which analyzed information about creative models and progressive cultures for thousands of businesses across the globe. The team highlights innovative ideas and creative execution for a variety of categories: advertising and marketing, consumer products, fashion, gaming, music, sports, technology, and many others. In the mobile category, Intermap is ranked among corporate giants such as Google, Apple, Amazon, Ford, and Qualcomm, as well as HTC, Evernote, Clearwire, and Foursquare.

Intermap is honored to be among this list of companies. Click here to read the press release.

Intermap^® is a Gold Sponsor for the Alaska Surveying and Mapping Conference set for February 22-26 in Anchorage. Please visit our booth in the exhibit hall or attend one of our paper presentations in the Yukon Room. Intermap’s Drew Chamberlain will present two papers on February 26:

The conference also includes short courses, the GIS Jam, professional presentations, and technical sessions. It is a great opportunity to learn more about Intermap’s 3D digital elevation data and images, and how they can help you enhance your projects.

For more information about the Alaska Surveying and Mapping Conference, please visit www.aksmc.org.