Outside the Neatline
Clark Labs, which is a part of the Geography Department at Clark University, has been awarded a $1.8 Million grant by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation to develop software for land management decisions. Clark Labs has already developed an application entitled Land Change Modeler, which will be enhanced through a partnership with the Natural Capital Project (which I profile in this previous post).
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Oxfam International, an NGO with global reach that battles poverty and injustice, has mapped the the food crisis that millions of people have been experiencing since 2010. Explore the map above for causes, impacts and documentation of the food shortages.
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| Dr. Gretchen Daily co-edited this book which aims “to provide the most intensive and best technical analyses of ecosytem services to date”. |
On Monday, The New York Times published this article that features Dr. Gretchen Daily’s work in which she investigates the value of natural capital, or “nature’s goods and services that are fundamental to human life”. Her interest, the article details, developed while working in Costa Rica and blossomed into her co-founding of the Natural Capital Project.
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| Conceptualizing the InVEST models |
The InVEST toolbox is available to download for free here, but you must have ArcGIS 9.3 or 10 with Spatial Analyst installed to use it. The download includes sample data that can help you become accustomed to how the tools work. Although technical support is limited, once you have registered, you gain access to the InVEST forum of users. Lastly, Natural Capital provides information on how to incorporate analyses using InVEST into science-policy and planning.
A couple weeks ago, I wrote a blog post discussing the USAID’s Frontlines edition which highlighted the use of Geospatial Technology in humanitarian causes. To follow up on this, here is an article from the National Journal which discusses the formation of USAID’s Geospatial Intelligence Center, Geocenter.
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| A ESRI seminar entitled Extend the Reach of Your GIS will be offered in Hartford October 6 and in cities nationwide beginning in September. |
ESRI will be offering a free half-day seminar entitled Extend the Reach of Your GIS, this September through November, in cities all across the country. This seminar is a part of the Success with GIS Series, which aims to help users “makes the most of their existing ArcGIS software”. The only seminar being offered in the state of Connecticut is in Hartford on October 6, 2011. Click here for a complete list of locations nationwide.
According to this Reuters article, Geospatial Technology has enabled real-time management of electricity in California. What does this entail? For one thing, a control room equipped with “an 80 foot by 6.5 foot screen” to display the power grid in real-time. Software developed by Space-Time Insight, which uses Google Maps as a base map, allows employees at The California Independent System Operator Corporation to manage power supply in addition to determining what source of power will be cheapest for specific locations. One example this article cites is how California ISO was able to divert power flow away from areas affected by wildfires in San Diego in 2008.
Is Geography catalyzing a new “big step” in evolution for the Internet? The authors of this article in Directions Magazine describe how geo-enabling data is an important stepping stone for future growth in what information the web provides.
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The Open Geospatial Consortium, a non-profit dedicated to leading the way for standardizing geospatial and location based services, is hosting its 2nd 3D summit September 20, 2011 in Boulder, Colorado. Abstracts for presentations are due Friday, August 12, 2011. Other important dates are as follows: