Blog
SHS 2015 Rendezvous
This past September, surveyors gathered to learn about and participate in the history of the Washington/Canadian border and the San Juan Islands. It was a fun and exciting time this year at the Surveyors’ Historical Society’s (SHS) annual rendezvous. Amidst the beautiful scenery of Washington State, surveyors from all around the country gathered for a...
xyHt News Links: 11/20/15
Unique Group acquires Aberdeen marine survey equipment firm GSE Rentals Deveron to Acquire Unmanned Aerial Systems (Drone) Company InfraMarker System 3.0 from Berntsen Mapping Resource Group, Inc. Unveils New Brand Introducing the new ALGIZ RT7 ultra-rugged tablet HP Inc. Reinvents Large-Format Printing With the Industry’s Most Compact and Affordable Integrated MFP Hipster ‘chill village’ wins...
Further Adventures with 3D GIS
Last year I posted about this awesome plugin called “QGIS2Threejs” [here] and how it was possible to quickly render 3D visualisations for free using the open source GIS, QGIS. At the time I fudged some wind turbines as it was impossible to import models. Furthermore, I avoided too much detail as any imagery would look...
123D Catch for the Masses
How to Make A 3D Model of Your Sleeping Cat Stereoscopic imaging, better known as 3D, is not new. In the 16th century, “binocular” images were viewed cross-eyed. In 1838, Sir Charles Wheatstone invented the stereoscope to give depth to images. It presented two offset 2D images separately to the left and right eye of...
Sampling Statistics
The Chi-squared Distribution In my most recent article (August 2015), I discuss Student’s t distribution and how its properties can be used to isolate blunders in observations. Another sampling distribution that is commonly used in least squares adjustments is the χ2 (chi-squared) distribution. It appears in the form of what is typically called the “goodness of fit”...
Hydro Insights, Part 2
Reviving Interest in the Seas Pictured: The adventures of Jacques Cousteau, his research vessel the Calypso, and his soucoupe plongeante (diving saucer, aka “Denise”) that he co-designed in 1959 captured the imaginations of generations. Editor’s Note: xyHt is honored to feature insights from these two distinguished scientists in the fields of hydrography, marine surveying, and...
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