Elevation data is  becoming  mainstream for a wide variety of applications such as water management,  flood hazard mapping, network planning, biomass studies, topographic mapping, land cover and land use mapping, to name a few. While there are many different types of geospatial data available today, it is important to determine which type of data is best for your application – in terms of resolution, accuracy, currency, and availability.

Elevation data is acquired remotely, either from spaceborne or airborne systems, each collected via different methods and to different specifications. If you are new to purchasing elevation data, here is a brief overview of four of the most widely used data collection modes on the market today:

Spaceborne Systems

Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) – In February 2000, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) teamed together to produce first surface digital elevation data for nearly 80 percent of the earth’s land surfaces. Data was collected onboard the U.S. Space Shuttle Endeavour during an 11-day mission using single-pass interferometry – a fixed-baseline mapping technique in which two radar images are taken from slightly different locations and processed to derive digital elevation models.

ASTER Global Digital Elevation Model (GDEM) – As a collaboration between NASA and Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry (METI), the ASTER GDEM data is acquired via Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) onboard the Terra satellite launched in December 1999, using single-pass stereoscopic correlation techniques. The GDEM is available for more than 95% of the earth’s surface.

Airborne Systems

Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (IFSAR) – This is the method that Intermap uses. It is a radar-based remote sensing technique that provides wide-area, digital elevation models (DEMs), with a radar beam at high accuracy. Height information is obtained in a single-pass mode by using the phase difference between two coherent SAR images simultaneously obtained by two antennae separated by an across-track baseline.  The result, after data processing, is seamless, high-resolution elevation data.

Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) – Optical signal data is collected from a fixed-wing aircraft or helicopter and processed to generate elevation data and in some cases, an intensity image, through a laser-based remote sensing technique that measures the time delay between a transmission pulse and the reflected signal. This technique operates on optical wavelengths and may require multiple returns to derive bare-ground and tree elevations.

Although spaceborne-derived data is readily available for most of the world, you may sacrifice accuracy and resolution. On the other hand, while some forms of airborne-derived data are available off the shelf, your specific area of interest may not be readily available; you may have to wait some time to obtain these higher-accuracy datasets. Additionally, it is important to determine if your application requires hydro-enforced elevations – to preserve the same flat surfaces on lakes, canals, and reservoirs as well as the monotonic flow along watercourses.

To learn more about Intermap’s IFSAR technology and to view a complimentary pre-recorded IFSAR Webinar, please click here.

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.

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

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

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.

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.

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!

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!

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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.

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.