Category Archives: Enviro/Ag

Crafting The Future via Geodesign

Geodesign is on the move. While the term may be new to some, it is an old concept getting new life via modern technology: how the science of geography should inform our methods of design. In that sense, geodesign is an applied science, and we humans have been doing it naturally since the dawn of...

What is xyHt?

Stand in the place where you live Now face North Think about direction Wonder why you haven’t before “Stand” – R.E.M. Why an obscure geodetic expression? It’s not all that obscure—it represents a foundational element requisite to nearly all human endeavor. It touches your life explicitly and in the abstract. All of the ways that...

Wetlands Synergism

Professional interdependency is at the core of this project for acquiring federal conservation easements and restoring wetlands in Tennessee. Each item we touch these days has been shaped by a village of experts, from that cell phone in your pocket to the water coming out of the nearest drinking fountain. The surveying and engineering professions...

Mobile System Alerts Dubai Drivers of Approaching Sandstorms

Periodically, large sandstorms and low-visibility conditions wreak havoc in the Middle East, with potentially deadly consequences for drivers. In 2007, a sandstorm in Saudi Arabia caused a pileup involving about 80 cars. In 2008, low-visibility conditions caused a 200-car pileup on the border between Dubai and Abu Dhabi, killing about 25 people. In April 2012, a...

Satellite Imagery for Precision Agriculture

Precision agriculture consists primarily of using geospatial technologies to map spatial variations in crop and soil conditions and to match inputs—such as water, seed, and fertilizer—to those variations by applying them at variable rates. The link between the spatial variations and the variable rates are zone maps and prescription maps. The former show the difference...

Autodesk and Measurement

“After all of these years, I’m really happy to be able to say that Autodesk is now truly in the measurement business,” says Pete Kelsey, Autodesk’s strategic projects executive. Though he was quick to add qualifiers to that statement: “We are not in the measurement hardware business, but we are now more closely aligned with...