Register here to attend a free workshop on Google Earth Engine at Google’s London Office on the 15th November.
Earth Engine is Google’s cloud-based platform for planetary-scale geospatial analysis that brings Google’s computational capabilities to bear on a variety of high-impact societal issues such as deforestation, drought, disaster, disease, food security, water management, climate monitoring and environmental protection.
Google is hosting a special three-day hands-on technical workshop in Mountain View this June. This Earth Engine User Summit will bring together researchers and educators in GIS and remote sensing technologies who have been using Google Earth Engine, or are interested in learning how to use Google Earth Engine for planetary-scale cloud-based geospatial analysis.
If you ate interested see this microsite and apply to attend for free before the 15th March
Last weeks tragic accident involving the crash of a Augusta helicopter in London, which claimed two lives is still fresh in the minds of most Londoners. Yesterday the Air Accident Investigation Branch (AAIB) published their initial accident bulletin, which describes the facts surrounding the accident as investigated without the analysis which will come in a later report in some months time.
The AAIB report illustrates the last few minutes of the flight of the helicopter using this graphic produced with Google Earth.
The track data comes from the reported radar position and Mode S altitude data produced by the helicopters transponder. The helicopter an AW 109E G-CRST was flying south after attempting to land at Elstree, and from the track you can was flying east while waiting for clearance to land at the London Heliport in Battersea a few miles to the west. According to the AAIB report at 0759 clearance was received at the helicopter began a turn to the south to head back west towards Battersea.
In the turn the helicopter hit the crane on top of the St. Georges Wharf development, shedding it’s rotor blades and crashing to the ground on Wandsworth Road.
While the graphic above is itself powerful of course it does not tell the full story, a key contributing factor to this accident will be the weather conditions at the time of low cloud and freezing fog with a cloud base lower than the 700ft high crane.
Written and submitted from home (51.425N, 0.331W)
For the first time in the UK Google Earth Builder, the cloud based geospatial publishing solution will be demonstrated at London’s Science Museum on the 13th September.
Google Earth Builder, allows organizations to upload and manage data from multiple departments and create custom layers then share these maps with employees to view on Google Earth and Maps.
Think of it as Google Docs for GIS !
The event registration site is here, if you are looking to make the most of your existing GIS investment and spatial data sets, it should be an important event.
Places are limited so register early !
Written and submitted from home (51.425N, 0.331W)
One of the most common questions people ask me, is “Can we use Google Maps to do xxx” , or “Can I use Google Earth in..” in most cases the answer is usually a resounding “YES”, but there are usually some conditions on use and for some uses the answer I’m afraid is no. For the past few years I have pointed people to the Geo Permissions website, which has been updated to now include a Permission Tool , a wizard interface to take your step by step through the permissions process.
I was at the INSPIRE Conference last week discussing amongst others things the licensing of geospatial data for shared Spatial Data Infrastructure projects, I made the point that increasingly data would be made available via online services and perhaps an additional way of reducing complexity is look at similar tools to explain access via future online services – the key insight.. to be user rather than producer focused !
Written and submitted from the Novotel Hotel Vienna, Austria (48.213N, 16.383E)
Just beside my office in London is what is known as a “Liquid Galaxy”, a network of computers running big LCD screens giving you a true panoramic Google Earth experience.
Almost everyone who sees a Liquid Galaxy makes the off hand comment, how do I get one. Until now we have said, “well is a custom version of Google Earth”, “you need loads of space screens”, “sorry it’s not really possible”..
Today however, we can say sure here are the instructions… check out the Quick Start page.
This it must be said is still quite a challenge, but you don’t have to have eight big LCD screens; a liquid galaxy set up scales from just two to dozens of screens.
So if you are looking for a DIY challenge and have the space… get building !
Written and submitted from home (51.425N, 0.331W)Written and submitted from home (51.425N, 0.331W)
A great example of an innovative use of Google Earth Enterprise, as an extension to Local Government GIS use in the UK.
To find the application of Beehives you will just need to watch ..
Written and submitted from the Google Offices, London (51.495N, 0.146W)
Interesting challenge, Can you do simple spatial analysis without access to a GIS or raw data ?
I received this email today, what do you think ?
“Hope you are well – I am now 18 months into a career in renewable energy and am the “expert” in GIS in this company. We work with Imass (my old employers) with a GIS-based system for working out how much connections of wind-farms, biomass plants etc. are to the electricity grid. I am going through a data checking exercise and want to compare substation locations digitised by Imass with air photos and maps.
It is easy for us to create a KML file and display on Google Earth but do any of your readers know of a clever way of comparing with OS mapping – without the need of a GIS or ownership of the OS maps? Obviously one by one we can compare on Multimap but how do I quickly move around 800 points?
I wondered if Where’s the Path was along the right lines on this. Not sure where I can find the right forum to discuss.”
My guess is that for largely organisational / licensing issues this would not be possible, even if technically it may be, but it’s an interesting thought…
Written and submitted from the Google Office, London.
With last months launch of Google Earth 5.0 much “mainstream” interest was focused on the capability to view under the ocean, and of course to begin the search for the lost city of Atlantis 🙂
For many however, myself included, the most important new capability is the ability to view historic images from the Google archive of satellite and aerial imagery.
Early days of course, but the potential to view history in this way has massive potential as illustrated by this image of Wembley Stadium in London. As you can imagine the back office system needed to deliver this are substantial, but the limiting factor remains access to imagery from around the world.
As to be expected by now the greatest availability is in the United States where the enlightened federal data policy means that it is possible to view Mountain View Ca. from the late 1940s — fantastic for viewing the development of the city from farmland to Silicon Valley.
Similar imagery of course was acquired at the same time in Europe, if would be wonderful to see it also made available..
Written and submitted from the Fira Exhibition Centre, Barcelona, using its public wifi network
