Category Archives: Enviro/Ag
Lidar for Forestry
Above: Lidar-derived tree crowns and maximum tree-top heights are overlaid on a 20cm orthophoto. Vector-based products allow for a transition from the point cloud to GIS. A forester’s guide to understanding lidar topics, from upfront data-acquisition costs to business benefits to the path from research to operationalization. Although many lidar industry insiders never imagined the...
Unmanned Systems
Above: This robot, the BoniRob, was developed for precision agriculture by Osnabrueck University of Applied Sciences in Germany, led by Arno Ruckelshausen. Robots for Precision Agriculture, Weather Forecasting, Scientific Studies From Amazon to Google to Domino’s Pizza, unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) have been drawing significant attention in recent months. Amazon plans to launch a Prime...
Satellite Signals Steer Farmers Straight
Precision agriculture combines GPS, remote sensing, and GIS to capture large amounts of georeferenced data on spatial variations in soil types, moisture content, nutrient availability, and crop yields and then create and follow prescription maps. Until recently, it was difficult for growers to correlate soil and crop information with production techniques, so they generally treated...
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...