Pangaea Archives

Adventures in Droning: Part Two

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This entry is part 7 of 80 in the series Pangaea

As you may recall from the last issue of Pangaea, this series is about my experiences using a prosumer-level UAS to explore the possibilities of starting an aerial photography business. Here’s what I learned. Panic over LAANC? As I described in the first article, my first launch of the Spark never left the ground due […]

Caretographic Representations

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This entry is part 8 of 80 in the series Pangaea

In parts of the world where both man-made and natural catastrophes frequently occur, how are geospatial technologies being used? And for those of us whose jobs are to create maps of construction sites and other built-up areas, how can we responsibly use the same technology to monitor destruction and wreckage? I pondered these tough questions […]

MOOC ado about Reskilling

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This entry is part 9 of 80 in the series Pangaea

Our new geospatial graduates have every reason to be happy. The good news that came out in April is that there are more vacant jobs in the U.S. than unemployed people, the highest amount in 50 years. And this jobs boom is a global pattern that extends to almost all industries, including the professional services […]

Edge Computing Supercharges UAS Workflows

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This entry is part 10 of 80 in the series Pangaea

A new computer networking approach called edge computing is promising to radically accelerate UAS workflows. Simply defined, edge computing distributes the task of computation to the edge of the network, generally very close to the sensor. In terms of UAS, edge computing accomplishes the post-processing of sensor data right on the UAS itself. Think about […]

“Welcome to Africa” via GIS

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This entry is part 11 of 80 in the series Pangaea

While in the middle of teaching GIS to my masters students, the squeaky ceiling fan above us suddenly went off. It was another power cut, the third in two hours. “Bienvenue en Afrique, Monsieur,” quipped one of my best students, making everyone laugh. I wiped the sweat off my forehead. Welcome to Africa, or precisely, […]

Rocketry Revolution #4: Air Breathing Rockets

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This entry is part 12 of 80 in the series Pangaea

In a Pangaea issue entitled Revolution #3, I laid out the latest three revolutions in rocketry. Reusable rockets like SpaceX and Blue Origin, Air-launched rockets like Stratolaunch and Virgin Orbit, and Drone-launched rockets as exemplified by the Aevum Raven. Each revolution is designed to make space more affordable and accessible. Reusable rockets are obviously more […]