The ongoing flooding in North Dakota has presented a monumental challenge to all parties affected by the natural disaster. From residents living in the affected areas to the state and local government agencies in charge of coordinating sandbagging efforts and other preventative measures. Not to mention the relief and recovery efforts that will likely continue long after the water has receded. However technological developments are making it easier for public works departments and emergency services to better anticipate and plan for, and hopefully prevent such devastating consequences as we are seeing in North Dakota.

With a population that is expected to reach 7 billion in 2011, it is fascinating to contemplate that there are still reaches of the earth where humans have never set foot. However, thanks to the proliferation of satellites and ever-improving satellite imagery, there may come a time when we will have virtually set foot on every part of the earth’s surface. The planet’s poles are prime candidates for exploration via satellite. The harsh climates make physical exploration difficult, dangerous, and expensive. But thanks to advances in GIS technology, scientists of every discipline will have the opportunity to research previously unknown facts on an unimagined scale.

On March 11, 2011, the world’s gaze turned toward Japan when a 9.0-magnitude quake and tsunami laid waste to Japan’s northeastern coast, costing thousands of lives and potentially causing a nuclear event at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power. While the world was glued to the TV and internet, watching the disaster and human interest stories unfold, two of the top geospatial satellites currently in orbit, GeoEye-1 and IKONOS, were chronicling the disaster from a very different vantage point – and potentially saving precious hours and millions of dollars in disaster recovery and re-build efforts. Thanks to the updated satellite images, GeoEye was able to gather and disseminate to the government of Japan, other relief agencies, and even companies like Google, the hardest hit regions could be picked out, and recovery plans were able to be made more accurately than ever before. With the ability to implement the new data in mapping technologies, routes that were flooded or otherwise impassable were avoided without wasting time and resources that would have come with a trial and error approach required in the past.

When you think about geospatial technology, more often than not what comes to mind are maps, earth images, and so on. But, in fact, more and more government departments and agencies, notably the DoD, are turning to geospatial technology to increase business efficiencies. According to DISDI Program Manager David LaBranche, quoted in the article “Geospatial Technology Aids DoD Efficiency Drive” in the February 2011 edition of Geospatial Intelligence Forum magazine (PDF), achieving economies of scale, reducing duplicative acquisition of imagery and data, as well as better tracking and management of buildings and other fixed assets are some of the key benefits of geospatial technology. LaBranche also noted that his office, which is located within the Office of the Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Installations and Environment, wants to see geospatial capabilities used by all of the mission areas across the department – an ambition that up till now was quite a challenge to achieve.

On January 12, 2011, the people of Haiti marked the one year anniversary of the 7.0 earthquake that devastated their country. It’s been a year since the disaster and signs of improvement dot the landscape. But 1.2 million people still make their homes in tent cities and the destruction can be seen from miles above Earth. The New York Times has created a sobering interactive feature using aerial photos from GeoEye and Google Maps to show Port-au-Prince before and after the earthquake in Haiti last January. Using the application it is possible to view aerial imagery from both before and after the earthquake, and includes shots of the tent cities that were created after the quake as well as the damaged structures in the city and the UN logistics relief operations base.

Location, location, location. Historically, the saying is like the real estate agent’s mantra. Have a good location and boom, your house practically sells itself. More recently though with the increased availability of cutting edge location-based technology, these three words have taken on a whole new meaning. That’s the basis for Episode One of the four-part online miniseries, Geospatial Revolution. Created by Penn State Public Broadcasting, Geospatial Revolution is a web-based project that aims to educate viewers about the recent rise in geospatial and location-based technologies.

I regularly check out my local Home Owners Association online discussion boards to get the scoop on neighborhood events and happenings. And, living close to the nation’s capital, transportation issues are often top of mind for us all. So I found myself following a popular thread about a local road construction project. Being the resourceful neighbors that we are (and just a little curious to know whether said project would help or hinder commuter traffic) the thread took on it own life as we harnessed our collective information gathering power to get the scoop. One contributor tracked down information from Virginia DOT’s web site; then another posted a Google Maps aerial image of the area; others chimed in with some local hearsay and, eureka, we concluded that our little hometown road project was in fact a step in the right direction towards easing congesting at a major commuter route interchange.

I was reading the latest issue of On The FrontLines entitled, “Geospatial Trends in Government”, and it got me thinking just how ingrained and valuable geospatial technology is in our everyday lives. From our cell phones ability to pinpoint our exact location to being able to reduce and solve crime, geospatial information has a hand in nearly everything we do.

Lori Ward, Director, Commercial Sales GeoEye Originially published in [acronym] magazine, Issue 11 In 2005, three high-resolution commercial remote sensing satellite companies served as the flagships of what appeared to be a growing remote sensing industry in the United States. Commercial satellite imagery was raising the profile of remote sensing solutions to prospective government and private-sector users. Investors were bullish, and with companies like Google showing interest, and the U.S. Government signing long-term contracts, the future of the commercial satellite imagery looked promising. Five years later, the quantity and quality of, and demand for, commercial imagery have all increased tremendously. This article looks at the early years of commercial satellite imaging, provides an update on the current state and, on the eve of new EnhancedView contract awards from the U.S. Government, speculates on its future.

Natural disasters and industrial incidents are not in short supply these days.  Both newspapers and the evening news are documenting tornados, volcanic ash, oil slicks and more.