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Highlight Article
769 Understanding the Spatio-Temporal Pattern of Tweets
Yue Li and Jie Shan
Columns & Updates
775 Grids and Datums — Federal Republic of Somalia
777 Book Review — An Introduction to Contemporary
Remote Sensing
778 Headquarters News —
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Peer-Reviewed Articles
787 Selecting Key Features for Remote Sensing Classifi cation by Using Decision-Theoretic Rough Set Model
Feng Xie, Dongmei Chen, John Meligrana, Yi Lin, and Wenwei Ren
An improved decision-theoretic rough set model with a com-prehensive set of criteria to select key features for guaranteeing or improving the accuracy of remote sensing classifi cation.
799 Assessing the Relationship between Ground Measurements and Object-Based Image Analysis of Land Cover Classes in Pinyon and Juniper Woodlands
April Hulet, Bruce A. Roundy, Steven L. Petersen, Ryan R. Jensen, and Stephen C. Bunting
A multi-resolution segmentation combined with rule-sets to classify trees, shrubs, perennial herbaceous vegetation, litter, and bare ground in pinyon and juniper woodlands using high-spatial resolution imagery.
809 Remote Sensing-based House Value Estimation Using an Optimized Regional Regression Model
Zhenyu Lu, Jungho Im, Lindi J Quackenbush, and Sanglim Yoo A novel optimized regional regression method using a differential evolution algorithm for estimating house price value based mainly on remote sensing derived information.
821 Point-based Classifi cation of Power Line Corridor Scene Using Random Forests
Heungsik B. Kim and Gunho Sohn
A new point-based approach to classify power line corridors from airborne lidar data using Random Forests.
835 A Random Set Approach for Modeling Integrated Uncertainties of Traffi c Islands Derived from Airborne Laser Scanning Points
Liang Zhou and Alfred Stein
The application of random sets to model traffi c islands as objects with uncertain spatial extents.
847 Assessing the Performance of Linear Feature Models: An Approach to Computational Inference
Eugenio Y Arima, Robert T Walker, and Dante G Vergara A methodology for testing the performance of simulation mod-els of linear features based on a combination of existing methods of accuracy assessment with computational inferential statistics.
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Recent IT technologies and online services are tremendously
alter-ing the way people create, use and share geographic information
(Elwood, 2008). Enabled by the widespread use of hand-handled
GPS, geo-tags, high-resolution graphics and access to the Internet
and Web 2.0, spatial data can be collected and produced
voluntari-ly by the untrained general public. This has been termed Geoweb,
Volunteered Geographic Information, and neogeography
(Good-child, 2007; Crampton, 2008). Different from the traditional way
exclusive to professionals in collecting spatial data, an individual
can be seen as an intelligent sensor contributing to local geographic
information (Goodchild, 2007). This innovation profoundly impacts
the discipline of geography, as well as sociology and politics, by
pro-viding innovative solutions other than traditional methods such
as focus groups, interviews and surveys (Elwood, 2008; Tsou and
Leitner, 2013). The Geoweb, according to Crampton et al. (2013),
is not only a simple collection of latitude-longitude coordinates
at-tached with information, but a “socially produced space that blurs
the oft-reproduced binary of virtual and material spaces”.
i
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n
Understanding the
Spatio-temporal
Pattern of Tweets
by
Yue Li
and
Jie Shan
Twitter, the most popular micro-blogging site,
hav-ing over 500 million registered users as of 2012 and
creating over 340 million tweets per day, has caught
the attention of socio-geographic researchers
(Lun-den, 2012). One important feature about Twitter is
its availability from mobile phones, which may have
embedded location sensors such as GPS and thus
al-low users to send messages with their geographic
co-ordinates (Fujisaka et al., 2010). With respect to the
huge quantity and large diversity of crowds publishing
tweets, massive valuable knowledge such as social
geo-graphic phenomena can be extracted (Fujisaka et al.,
2010). Therefore, study of the spatio-temporal pattern
of geo-tagged tweets provides important implications
for various applications, such as human geography,
urban science, location-based services, targeted
adver-tising, content delivery networks, and social media
re-search (Kamath et al., 2013).
This article reviews recent socio-geographic research
based on micro-blogging services such as Twitter. The
spatio-temporal dynamics of geo-tagged tweets in West
Lafayette, Indiana, the town of Purdue University, is
presented. It is to demonstrate the feasibility of
utiliz-ing public location-based social network information,
especially geo-tagged tweets, to understand the daily
activities and life style of human beings, mostly college
students in this case.
Literature Review
Analyzing micro-blog data such as tweets can help
discover and understand human behavior patterns
and personal lifestyle patterns. Fujisaka et al. (2010)
analyzed mass movement histories using geo-tagged
micro-blog datasets to explore the behavior patterns
of individual regions. They proposed two models: an
aggregation model to illustrate how many new users
enter the region, and a dispersion model to calculate
those leaving the region. By using these models,
usu-al and unusuusu-al sociusu-al and naturusu-al phenomena can be
found, and anonymous crowd mining became feasible
(Fujisaka et al., 2010). Based on this work, they could
detect geo-social events, such as festivals, by
compar-ing micro-bloggcompar-ing data with geographic regularities.
In addition to geo-tags, Hiruta et al. (2012) filtered
out tweets with content irrelevant to the tagged
lo-cation to detect events. Similarly, Nakaji and Yanai
(2012) took advantage of the visual features of the
at-tached photos to supplement the geo-tag information,
and designed a visualization system for real-world
events on the online map.
Instead of detecting events from massive geo-tagged
tweets (Fujisaka et al., 2010; Nakaji and Yanai, 2012),
Li et al. (2013) related the density of tweets with
socio-economic characteristics of local people to discover the
spatial, temporal, and socioeconomic patterns. Similar
research has been conducted on the footprints
record-ed by location sharing services such as Foursquare,
Gowalla, and Facebook, where spatial, temporal, social
and textural aspects were analyzed to quantitatively
assess the human mobility pattern (Cheng et al, 2011).
Different from the above research, where tweets in
a given area were collected and analyzed, several
re-searchers focused on the spatial distribution of tweets
related with a certain event or topic in a broader area.
Crampton et al. (2013) focused on the manifestation of
one certain event -- the widely reported riots after the
University of Kentucky men’s basketball team’s 2012
championship. They developed a big data analytic
en-gine providing visualization functionality for
geo-tagged tweets, and analyzed the geography of one
spe-cific hashtag #LexingtonPoliceScanner, which refers to
the online feed of the Lexington Police Department, to
assess the ability of using geo-referenced social media
data to spatially determine events and the news
diffu-sion over time and space (Crampton et al., 2013).
Similar to Crampton et al. (2013), Tsou et al. (2013)
analyzed the spatial distribution of web pages and
so-cial media messages with respect to the 2012
Presiden-tial Election. They converted thousands of web pages
and millions of tweets related to the keywords “Barak
Obama” or “Mitt Romney” into maps. The resulting
landscape with different time and keywords were
highly correlated to certain major campaign events,
leading to the conclusion that this innovative approach
is useful for quantitatively studying human activities,
social events and human thoughts (Tsou et al., 2013).
Ghosh and Guha (2013) mapped the distribution of
the tweets related to “obesity”. They first extracted the
main topics and keywords associated with “obesity”
us-ing topic modelus-ing, and explored the spatial patterns
of each extracted topic, which were further related to
U.S. census data and locations of fast food restaurants.
The research offered a prototype for social scientists,
especially health geographers, to use large
conversa-tional datasets in studying health problems (Ghosh
and Guha, 2013).
Motivation and methodology
To further demonstrate the potential of using
geo-tagged social media data in socio-geographic research,
we conducted several analyses into the geo-tagged
tweets within West Lafayette, Indiana, United States.
It is the most densely populated city in Indiana with
a population of 29,596 as of the 2010 census (“2010
Population Finder”, 2011). Also, West Lafayette is the
home of Purdue University, which has almost 40,000
students as of fall 2012 (Office of Institutional
Re-search, 2013).
This study explores the spatio-temporal pattern of
geo-tagged tweets in West Lafayette, and thus infers
the human activity and mobility pattern in the area.
Particularly, this analysis may shed light on the
ac-continued from page 769tivity patterns of Purdue students, since 93% of young
adults (age 18-29) use the Internet, while 72% of them
use social networking sites, as reported by a Pew
Re-search Center study (2010).
A total of 4,160 geo-tagged tweets were collected
from Twitter using the Twitter Streaming API for
one entire week from Thursday, April 11 to Thursday,
April 18, 2013. Each tweet is tagged with a latitude
and longitude, which are used for the location of the
user at the time of posting. Our study evaluates the
spatial and temporal distribution of the geo-tagged
tweets on weekdays and the weekend using clustering
analysis in Esri Maps for Excel.
Results and discussion
The geo-tagged tweets of weekdays and weekend days
are found to have different geographic patterns. On
weekdays, the tweets are concentrated on the Purdue
campus and its surroundings as well as a few
apart-ment clusters (Figure 1), whereas on weekends they
are relatively more evenly distributed (Figure 2). This
phenomenon suggests a flow of Twitter users in West
Lafayette move from the Purdue campus to other parts
of the city when the weekend comes. Furthermore,
this distribution pattern corresponds to the fact that
Purdue students attend school during weekdays, and
go back home or leave town on weekends, which infers
that one big group of Twitter users in West Lafayette
are Purdue students, enhancing the feasibility of using
Twitter data in student targeted marketing and
mu-nicipal development.
The temporal pattern of the campus tweets is also
significant. On weekdays, the count of geo-tagged
tweets varies greatly by time, while there is no
consid-erable variation for the weekends (Figure 3). The
num-ber of tweets on weekdays starts to rise at 7:00 am,
which corresponds to the fact that the first classes on
campus start at 7:30 am. It continues to grow during
the day until 4:00 pm. This indicates students tweet a
lot on campus between and/or during classes. The peak
of the tweet count occurs around noon during the lunch
time. It is noticed that the number of tweets starts to
decline at 4:00 pm and continues until 7:00 pm, which
is likely the time period when students go to the gym
or jogging outside. Later the tweet count starts to rise
until midnight, when most students are likely
finish-ing the day and gettfinish-ing ready to go to sleep. Fewer and
fewer tweets are observed after midnight, with the
minimum count reached during 4:00 - 7:00 am. The
results in Figure 3 demonstrate that the Twitter users
in West Lafayette are most active from 1:00 – 7:00 pm
and 10:00 pm – 1:00 am on weekdays. However, the
number of tweets is quite stable over time on
week-ends since only two peaks are observed respectively at
noon and 8:00 pm. The above temporal pattern
sketch-es some intersketch-esting yet detailed weekly living patterns
of college students.
Figures 4 and 5 plot the spatial distribution of tweets
at different times during weekdays. The majority of
the geo-tagged tweets from 11:00 am – noon on
week-days are clustered on the Purdue campus (Figure 4),
whereas tweet clusters from 8:00 – 9:00 pm are away
from the campus and rather spread out (Figure 5).
No-tably, tweets around local restaurants and bars start
to emerge (Figure 5). This phenomenon suggests that
Twitter users in the evening in West Lafayette move
from the Purdue campus to other parts of the city.
Figure 1. Geo-tagged tweet clusters on weekdays.
Figure 2. Geo-tagged tweet clusters on weekends.
continued on page 772Summary
Our study explored the potential of using geo-tagged
micro-blogging service such as Twitter in
socio-graphic research. We conducted a study on the
geo-tagged tweets in West Lafayette and evaluated the
user activity pattern behind the tweets by analyzing
the spatio-temporal dynamics. This study suggests
the possibility of using geo-tagged tweets in local
market research and promotions, human mobility
analysis, and even education regulation in a “college
town” such as West Lafayette. It helps understand the
living patterns and style of college students. Future
work will use larger data sets, consider the content of
the micro-blogs by semantic analysis, topic modeling,
and content analysis, aiming to track the spread of
ideas and thoughts in the local area. We will develop
a framework of extracting spatio-temporal social
pat-terns from geo-tagged tweets on a city scale to help
social researchers, demographic surveyors, market
re-searchers, advertising designers, and policy makers.
Figure 3. Count of geo-tagged tweets by time.
Figure 4. Geo-tagged tweet clusters from 11:00
am–
noon on weekdays.
Figure 5. Geo-tagged tweet clusters from 8:00–9:00
pm
on weekdays.
References
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Crampton, J., 2008. Cartography: Maps 2.0, Progress
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M. Stephens, M.W. Wilson, M. Zook, 2013. Beyond
the geotag: Situating ‘big data’ and leveraging the
potential of the geoweb, Cartography and
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Suwon, Republic of Korea.
Ghosh, D., and R. Guha, 2013. What are we ‘tweeting’
about obesity? Mapping tweets with topic
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passed-500m-users-in-june-2012-140m-of-them-in-us-jakarta-biggest-tweeting-city/.
Nakaji, Y., and K. Yanai, 2012. Visualization of
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Tsou, M., J. Yang, D. Lusher, S. Han, B. Spitzberg,
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Elec-tion, Cartography and Geographic Information
Science, DOI:10.1080/15230406.2013.79973.
Authors
Yue Li
li1050@purdue.edu
Jie Shan
jshan@purdue.edu
School of Civil Engineering, Purdue University
West Lafayette, IN 47907, USA
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• The Geospatial Intern Program is designed to
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summary and references to the Evaluation for Certi-fication Committee. Applicants meeting all of these
requirements will become certified for the specified
time period of their certification
Details can be found in the Certification and
Recertification Guidelines:
http://www.asprs.org/Certification-Program/
Certification-and-Recertification-Guidelines.html
Or contact certification@asprs.org
Stand out from the rest –
earn ASPRS Certification
THE
IMAGING & GEOSPATIAL INFORMATION SOCIETY
www.cesb.org
ASPRS congratulates these recently Certified and
Re-certified individuals:
Certified Photogrammetrist
Douglas E. Cain, Certifi cation #1553, effective August 7, 2013, expires August 7, 2018
Re-Certified Photogrammetrists
James Appleton, Certifi cation # R1053, effective May 20, 2012, expires May 20, 2017
Joseph J. Cantz, Jr. , Certifi cation # R1363, effective June 28, 2013, expires June 28, 2018
William F. Fernandez, Certifi cation # R1349, effective February 28, 2013, expires February 28, 2018
Thomas R. Freeman, Certifi cation # R1360, effective June 23, 2013, expires June 23, 2018
Joel N. O'Neal, Certifi cation # R1109, effective June 23, 2013, expires June 23, 2018
Daniel David Rorrer, Certifi cation # R1047, effective February 19, 2013, expires February 19, 2018
Theodore N. Schall, Certifi cation # R1357, effective April 7, 2013, expires April 7, 2018
Steven T. Welebny, Certifi cation # R1202, effective September 21, 2011, expires September 21, 2016
Steven A. Wood, Certifi cation # R899, effective May 20, 2012, expires May 20, 2017
Re-Certified Mapping Scientists/ GIS/LIS
James A. McCall, Certifi cation # R199GS, effective January 7, 2013, expires January 7, 2018 Luis Roberto Ramos, Certifi cation # R202GS, effective
June 2, 2013, expires June 2, 2018 ASPRS Certifi cation validates your professional practice and experience. It differentiates you from others in the profession. For more information on the ASPRS Certifi cation program contact certifi cation@asprs.org or visit http://www.asprs.org/membership/ certifi cation
“Located in the horn of Africa, adjacent to the Arabian Peninsula, Somalia is steeped in thousands of years of history. The ancient Egyptians spoke of it as “God’s Land” (the Land of Punt). Chinese merchants frequented the Somali coast in the tenth and fourteenth centuries and, according to tradition, returned home with giraffes, leopards, and tortoises to add color and variety to the imperial menagerie. Greek merchant ships and medieval Arab dhows plied the Somali coast; for them it formed the eastern fringe of Bilad as Sudan, ‘the Land of the Blacks’. More specifically, medieval Arabs referred to the Somalis, along with related peoples, as the Berberi. By the eighteenth century, the Somalis essentially had developed their present way of life, which is based on pastoral nomadism and the Islamic faith. During the colonial period (approximately 1891 to 1960), the Somalis were separated into five mini-Somalilands: British Somaliland (north central); French Somaliland (east and southeast); Italian Somaliland (south); Ethiopian Somaliland (the Ogaden); and, what came to be called the Northern Frontier District (NFD) of Ke-nya. In 1960 Italian Somaliland and British Somaliland were merged into a single independent state, the Somali Republic. In its first nine years the Somali state, although plagued by territorial disputes with Ethiopia and Kenya, and by difficulties in integrating the dual legacy of Italian and British administrations, remained a model of democratic governance in Africa; governments were regularly voted into and out of office” (Library of Congress Country Studies, 2013).
“In 1969, a coup headed by Mohamed Siad Barre ushered in an authori-tarian socialist rule characterized by the persecution, jailing, and torture of political opponents and dissidents. After the regime’s collapse early in 1991, Somalia descended into turmoil, factional fighting, and anarchy. In May 1991, northern clans declared an independent Republic of Somal-iland that now includes the administrative regions of Awdal, Woqooyi Galbeed, Togdheer, Sanaag, and Sool. Although not recognized by any government, this entity has maintained a stable existence and continues efforts to establish a constitutional democracy, including holding munici-pal, parliamentary, and presidential elections. The regions of Bari, Nugaal, and northern Mudug comprise a neighboring semi-autonomous state of Puntland, which has been self-governing since 1998 but does not aim at independence; it has also made strides toward reconstructing a legitimate, representative government but has suffered some civil strife. Puntland disputes its border with Somaliland as it also claims portions of eastern Sool and Sanaag” (World Factbook, 2013).
Slightly smaller than Texas, Somalia is bordered by Djibouti (58 km) (PE&RS, October 2008), Ethiopia (1,600 km) (PE&RS, March 2003), and Kenya (682 km) (PE&RS, June 2003). The terrain consists of mostly flat to undulating plateau, rising to hills in the north; the lowest point is the Indian Ocean (0 m), and the highest point is Shimbiris (2,416 m).
There are a number of datum origins in Somalia, corresponding to areas in which the various colonial powers have had dominion over the past couple of centuries. Thanks to John W. Hager, in the north, corresponding to the “old British Somaliland is Berbera Pier (the port city of Berbera on the Gulf of Aden – Ed.) where: Φo = 10° 26’ 24.0” N, Λo = 45° 00’ 39.0” E, and the ellipsoid of reference is the Clarke 1880 where: a = 6,378,249.145 m, and 1/
f = 293.465”.
Grids & Datums
F
ederal
r
epublic
oF
S
omalia
by Clifford J. Mugnier, C.P., C.M.S.
Proceeding south, the next datum origin found is Dolo, Northwest of Mogadishu, in the vicinity of Dolo Bay where: Φo = 04° 10’ 36.60” N, Λo = 42° 50’ 00.15” E; unknown ellipsoid, probably Clarke 1880. “The Ethiopia – Somalia boundary consists of three distinct sectors. The thalweg of the Dewa (River – Ed.) constitutes a 22-mile sector between the Kenya tripoint and the confluence of the Dewa with the Gan l - Dory at Dolo, from which junction the rivers form the Giuba. Between Dolo and 8ºN, 48ºE, the second sector is delimited by a provisional administrative line for 509 miles. The final sector, between 8ºN, 48ºE and the tripoint with the French Territory of the Afars and Issas at Madaha Djalêlo, is 463 miles long and is demarcated by boundary pillars” (International Boundary Study No. 153, Ethiopia – Somalia, U.S. Dept. of State, November 5, 1975). Dolo was likely established by the Anglo-Ethiopian Boundary Commission, 1932-1935, as reported by G.T. McCaw in Empire Survey Review, Nos. 25-26, 1937.
Continuing south, the next datum origin found is generally consid-ered the major system of Somalia: Afgooye Datum, thanks to John W. Hager; established by the U.S.S.R. sometime in 1962-1968 at station “BM Ts 30” where: Φo = 02° 06’ 12.14” N, Λo = 45° 09’ 55.46” E,
ho = 128.210 m, and the ellipsoid of reference is the Krassovsky 1940 where: a = 6,378,245 m, and 1/
f = 298.3. According to TR8350.2, the
3-parameter transformation from Afgooye Datum to WGS84 Datum is: ΔX = –43 m ±25 m, ΔY = –163 m ±25 m, ΔZ = +45 m ±25 m. Out of curiosity, I transformed the Afgooye Datum coordinates of station “BM Ts 30” into WGS84 Datum: j = 02º 06’ 13.78” N, λ = 45º 09’ 52.73” E, and I input the coordinates into Google Earth©. John W. Hager
informs me that the Afgooye Datum origin is “Located on top of a square water tank. A Doppler station was established there.” Those coordinates will indeed locate the water tank on Google Earth©,
includ-ing its adjacent shadow! Note that the location is actually in Lafoole, southeast of the town of Afgooye.
Continuing southwest, the next datum origin is Fortino di Trevis, where: Φo = 01º 43’ 19.10” N, Λo = 44º 46’ 32.38” E, which is in the Northeast part of the town of Merca; unknown ellipsoid.
Continuing southwest, the last datum origin is Perduchi a Giumbo, where: Φo = 00º 14’ 50.70” S, Λo = 42º 37’ 27.10” E, which is in Jidka Aaran, between Luglow and Goob Weyn and Northeast of Kismaayo;
unknown ellipsoid.
The most common legacy Grids found in Somalia are the East Africa Belts where the Central Meridians (λo) are: J = 42º 30’ E, K = 47º 30’ E, L = 52º 30’ E; the Scale Factor at Origin (mo) = 0.9995, False East-ing = 400 km, and False NorthEast-ing = 4,500 km, referenced to the Clarke 1880 ellipsoid. Of course, for the Afgooye Datum, the likely Grid used is the Russia Belt 8 Gauss-Krüger Transverse Mercator where λo = 45º E, mo = 1.0, and False Easting = 500 km.
The contents of this column reflect the views of the author, who is responsible for the facts and accuracy of the data presented herein. The contents do not necessarily reflect the official views or policies of the American Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing and/or the Louisiana State University Center for GeoInformatics (C4G).
ASPRS MEMBERSHIP
Your path to success in the geospatial community
ASPRS would like to welcome the following new members!
At Large
Kevin Brendon Crichlow Peter MacDermott Érico Fernando Oliveira Martins, Sr.*
Dinesh Parape, P. Eng*
Central New York
Melanie Johnson, Ph.D. James Daniel Kanaley
Central US
Adam Barnes Brian Cunningham*Columbia River
Matthew Goslin*Florida
Sean Carter Barbora UbarMid-South
Scott Benton Mark Dyess Carey Oakley, III* Sharmila Partab*Potomac
Hayden Bassett*Rocky Mountain
Jan KoenigSaint Louis
Brendan Bladdick*Southwest US
Steven Henderson* Michael MullerWestern Great Lakes
Gustavo Castro
*indicates student member
For more information on ASPRS membership,
visit http://www.asprs.org/Join-Now/
C
LASSIFIEDS
Seeking Employment
Photogrammetric Technician – 9 yrs exp w/ Fla and Va DOT contracts - 31 yrs old –
seeking permanent, contract or temporary work - will relocate - Cardinal Systems, AutoCAD, Microstation, KLT Atlas, AP32, Python Programming
Contact William at 828-674-3961 or WCG1982@ hotmail.com.
For Sale
Kern DSR 14 with MicroStation system
is in good working condition for sale. For further info. send an e-mail to: maanliu@yahoo.com
BE AN ASPRS MEMBER CHAMPION
ASPRS is recruiting new members and YOU benefit from each new member YOU champion. Not only can you contribute to the growth of ASPRS, but you can earn discounts on dues and merchandise in the ASPRS Store.
Member Champions by Region from January 1, 2013 – July 31, 2013
REMEMBER! To receive credit for a new member, the CHAMPION’S name and ASPRS membership number must be included on the new member’s application. CONTACT INFORMATION
For Membership materials, contact us at: 301-493-0290, ext. 109/104 or email: members@asprs.org.
Individuals who want to join ASPRS may sign up on-line at http://www.asprs.org/Join-Now/.
RECRUIT
· 1 new member, earn a 10% DISCOUNT off your ASPRS DUES and $5 in ASPRS BUCK$.
· 5 new members, earn a 50% DISCOUNT off your ASPRS DUES and $25 in ASPRS BUCK$.
· 10 or more new members in a calendar year and receive the Ford Bartlett Award, one year of complimentary membership, and $50 in ASPRS BUCK$.
All newly recruited members count toward the Region’s tally for the Region of the Month Award given by ASPRS. Those elibible to be invited to join ASPRS under the Mem-ber Champion Program are:
• Students and/or professionals who have never been ASPRS members.
• Former ASPRS members are eligible for reinstatement if their membership has lapsed for at least three years
Alaska Sharon W. George Central New York William M. Stiteler, CMS Central U.S. Kevin P. Price Columbia River Steven P. Lennartz, CMS Michael S. Renslow, CP Eastern Great Lakes Charles W. Emerson Kin M. Ma William F. Welsh Florida Bon A. Dewitt Xiaojun Yang Mid-South Haluk Cetin North Atlantic Bradley Foltz, CP Potomac Barry N. Haack Michael Krimmer Janice Ouellette Karen L. Schuckman, CP Puget Sound L. Monika Moskal Rocky Mountain Michaela Buenemann Saint Louis Ming-Chih Hung Todd Wever Western Great Lakes
Andrew James Williams Member Champions By number of new members recruited Recruited from 1 to 4 new members Michaela Buenemann Haluk Cetin Bon W. Dewitt Charles W. Emerson Bradley Foltz, CP Sharon W. George Ming-Chih Hung Michael Krimmer Kin M. Ma L. Monika Moskal Janice Ouellette Michael S. Renslow, CP William M. Stiteler, CMS William F. Welsh Todd Wever Andrew James Williams
Xiaojun Yang Recruited 5 and more
new members Barry N. Haack (6) Steven Lennartz, CMS (15)
Kevin P. Price (5) Karen L. Schuckman, CP (7)
ASPRS BUCK$ VOUCHERS are worth $5 each toward the purchase of publications or merchandise available through the ASPRS web site, catalog or at ASPRS conferences.
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Mohanna Sales Representatives Brooke King
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Book Review
An Introduction to Contemporary Remote Sensing
Qihao Weng
McGraw-Hill, USA, 2012, 320 pp., images, diagrams, photos
Hardcover. $100.00
ISBN 0071740112 / 9780071740111
Reviewed by: Steven R. Schill, PhD, Senior Scientist, The Nature Conservancy, Provo, Utah
Over the last ten years, the public has witnessed an explosion of new internet-based tools that provide fast access to huge amounts of high resolution imagery. The emergence of virtual digital globes that stream archives of seamless imagery across the internet coupled with exciting new mobile mapping applications have sparked a dramatic increase in public interest and the utility for remote sensing technology. In light of these advancements, An Introduction to Contemporary Remote Sensing is a practical and concise “fi rst-time” textbook designed to highlight remote sensing technology in light of these recent advancements. The author’s primary intent in writing this book is to satisfy the need of a remote sensing textbook suitable for lower-division students seeking an introduction to fundamental remote sensing principles in the context of new technolo-gies that have evolved in recent years. With an increasing number of undergraduate students seeking to take remote sensing-related classes, this text serves as a broad overview for non-major or general education remote sensing students who may not need all the technical details and equations that upper-level division remote sensing textbooks provide.
The textbook is small and compact, comprising ten chapters that present brief overviews of basic remote sensing topics commonly seen in other introductory remote sensing textbooks. At the end of each chapter, several key concepts are defi ned and review questions are provided to help reinforce learning. The fi rst chapter provides a brief overview of remote sensing, including how the technology works, characteristics of digital images, and a short overview of remote sensing history with paragraphs that describe several remote sensing “eras.” A few examples of remote sensing applications are introduced including crop irrigation, urban sprawl mapping, air quality and fi re monitoring, and disaster assessments. The remaining part of this chapter explains how modern geospatial technologies like GIS, GPS, and virtual globes like Google Earth, are becoming seamlessly intertwined with remote sensing technology and how they are leading to an expansion of ap-plications and augmenting wider public knowledge and access.
Chapters Two and Three introduce readers to fundamental passive remote sensing principles, including electromagnetic energy and remotely sensed data characteristics. The author explains in simple terms, basic principles of electromagnetic energy and concepts of spatial, spectral, radiometric, and temporal resolution. These topics are presented in a clear manner with several easy-to-understand color fi gures, using standard equations that are suitable for lower level undergraduates to read and comprehend. Although it may not be considered a contemporary topic, Chapters Four and Five provide an overview of aerial photography and photogrammetry. These chapters provide a basic level overview of aerial cameras, fi lms and fi lters, methods of aerial photo interpretation, and basics of photogrammetry with an emphasis on quantitative analysis of aerial photographs. While these sections provide valuable information on the types of
aerial photos, geometry and stereoscopy principles, it was surprising that more recent technologies were not addressed in these chapters such as the use of space-based stereo imagery, methods for digital stereoscopy, and the use of unmanned-aerial vehicles for acquiring high resolution orthoimagery and digital elevation models.
What sets this book apart from other remote sensing textbooks is the precision and brevity used to introduce common remote sensing concepts. For example, Chapter Six provides a condensed overview of scanning systems, thermal IR, passive microwave/imaging radar, and lidar-- all within 14 pages. The longest chapter in the book provides an overview of several core Earth observation satellites that are grouped in three sections: Earth resource, meteorological and oceanographic, and commercial. The author provides a brief and well written synopsis on several major satellites, explaining their history, technical specifi -cations, with several full color fi gures showing examples of imagery and their applications. As a newly published remote sensing book with the word “contemporary” in the title, it was disappointing that the commercial satellite section only introduced the aging IKONOS and Quickbird satellites and not the newer generation of platforms such as GeoEye, WorldView 2, and RapidEye.
The chapter on digital image analysis is well laid out, with brief explanations and figures succinctly describing common image processing methods such as image correction, enhancement, and spectral transformations including ratioing and principle components analysis. This chapter also provides very introductory descriptions of common image classifi ers such as per-pixel based classifi cation ap-proaches but only mentions advanced classifi cation apap-proaches such as artifi cial neural network, fuzzy-set, and expert systems. Since image segmentation is increasingly becoming popular as an image classifi er, often providing better results than per-pixel-based approaches, it was surprising that more content was not devoted to object-oriented image segmentation and classifi cation methods.
Overall, this book provides a comprehensive overview of remote sensing technology, presented in a very digestible and easy-to-read format. It is written by an internationally renowned expert in the fi eld, who is able to provide several example applications throughout the book that are insightful and very informative. The last two chapters on thermal and active remote sensing were particularly well-written, providing excellent examples and supporting fi gures that showcase a variety of modern applications. Hopefully future editions will provide a wider diversity of mapping applications such as feature extraction in the freshwater and marine realms. While this book may not be the choice for upper-level undergraduates who require more in-depth material, this book would serve as a perfect choice for an introductory remote sensing course, distance education class, or workshop de-signed to cover a variety of remote sensing topics at a basic level.
ASPRS Lidar Division Releases
First LAS Domain Profi le
Thanks to a recent initiative of the ASPRS Lidar Division, different segments of the lidar mapping community now have the ability to customize the LAS fi le format to meet their application-specifi c needs. The new mechanism that makes this possible is the LAS Domain Profi le, which is a derivative of the base LAS v1.4 specifi cation that adds (but does not remove or alter existing) point classes and attributes.
“The Lidar Division is pleased to announce the release of the fi rst LAS Domain Profi le, which is designed to support topographic-bathymetric ("topo-bathy") lidar” said Chris Parrish, the Lidar Division’s Assistant Director and Lead Physical Scientist with the Remote Sensing Division of NOAA’s National Geodetic Survey (NGS). The Topo-Bathy Lidar Domain Profi le adds point classifi cation values for bathymetric point (e.g., seafl oor or riverbed; also known as submerged topography), water surface, derived water surface, submerged object, IHO S-57 object, and bottom-not-found depth. Extra Byte Variable Length Records (EXTRA_BYTES or Extra Byte VLRs) are added for pseudo-refl ectance, uncertainty, water column depth, fi gure of merit, and processing specifi c fl ags. Additional domain profi les are expected in the future, and a LAS Domain Profi le Description Template is available online.
Parrish added “the coastal lidar community is currently witnessing the emergence of a new class of topo-bathy lidar systems that occupies the middle ground between conventional bathy-metric and commercial topographic systems and provides seamless, high-resolution coverage across the backshore, intertidal, and shallow nearshore zones. Many users of these systems and the data they provide are interested in integrating the data into existing topographic lidar processing streams. However, the base LAS specifi cation does not directly support these data. To address this need, the coastal lidar community -- including members of the Joint Airborne Lidar Bathymetry Technical Center of Expertise (JALBTCX) -- have developed a LAS domain profi le for topographic-bathymetric lidar.”
The LAS format, which is published and maintained by ASPRS, is the most widely-used, publicly available lidar fi le format, and has become the de facto industry standard for airborne lidar data. The new point classes and attributes defi ned in this domain profi le further extend its utility by facilitating the production and use of point clouds containing both subaerial (i.e., land) and subaqueous points.
ASPRS Launches First eBook –
Manual of Airborne Topographic Lidar
Bethesda, MD -- The American Soci-ety for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing (ASPRS) is pleased to an-nounce the launch of its first eBook on the Kindle platform. “Making the Manual available as an eBook gives customers the option to have it avail-able at their fingertips on either a Kin-dle or on another device with a KinKin-dle app,” said ASPRS Communications Director Kim Tilley. “This is perfect for students and those working in the field who don’t want to carry around the printed book, or for those needing quick delivery with no mailing costs.” The eBook is available through Amazon at http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00E3FWBO6.
The print copy of the ASPRS Manual of Airborne Topographic
Lidar was published in late 2012 and is the fi rst comprehensive manual published on lidar technology. Edited by Michael Renslow, an industry leader on the topic, the book pulls chapter material from lidar industry experts worldwide. Click on these links for the FOREWORD and full Table of Contents.
Moving forward, ASPRS expects to make more of its manuals available in the eBook format, including the recently published Sixth Edition of the Manual of Photogrammetry. “We realize that digital books are the way of the future and that the large manuals we publish will be more accessible for students and others in the digital format,” Tilley said. Professors are encouraged to adopt ASPRS manuals as course material for their courses in GIS, Remote Sensing, and Photogrammetry. Go to the ASPRS Bookstore at http://www.asprs.org/Publications-Other/Bookstore.html to see all of the Manuals available from ASPRS. Student Member and Member pricing is a signifi cant savings off of the list price students and those working in the field who don’t want to carry
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ASPRS Executive Director James Plasker
Announces His Retirement
ASPRS Executive Director James Plasker has announced his retirement from ASPRS and plans to step down from his position, effec-tive January 2014. Plasker was selected as the Executive Director in 1998 to succeed William French who had served in the posi-tion for 20 years.
As ASPRS Executive Director for nearly 16 years, Plasker led or signifi cantly contributed to numerous programmatic efforts on behalf of the ASPRS membership and the broader geospatial community. These included resolution of professional licensure issues and expanded geospatial representa-tion to the Narepresenta-tional Council of Examiners for Engineer-ing and SurveyEngineer-ing (NCEES); development of the Ten Year Remote Sensing Industry Forecast (Phases I-IV); increased awareness of Landsat data continuity issues and the requirement for a National Land Imaging Pro-gram; ASPRS participation in several U.S. Department of Labor career and statistical reporting programs including NAICS and ONET; expansion of both the number and monetary value of the ASPRS awards and scholarships endowed through the ASPRS Foundation; supported a number of ASPRS studies on camera calibration, digital orthophotography and the value of Landsat data; aided ASPRS volunteers in the development of the LAS com-mon data exchange standard and the best practices guidelines for procurement of professional geospatial services and geospatial products; oversaw expansion of the ASPRS Certifi cation Program to include technologists and intern categories; and increased efforts to support the accreditation of applied science and engineering programs through his continuing service to the Accredi-tation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET).
During Plasker’s tenure he also oversaw implementa-tion of the Society’s strategic plan, including an expansion and modernization of the ASPRS publications program; fulfi llment of the decision to operate its conferences independently; improvement of the fi nancial health of the Society; recovery of the APSRS Foundation and full endowment of its awards; and the payoff of the mortgage on the Headquarters offi ces. The Society now has a work-ing investment policy for Society short and long term reserves, which specifi cally enabled the recovery of the publication of ASPRS manuals from an outside publisher and supported ongoing Society operations as the Nation’s economic condition worsened in recent years. In addition, Plasker has implemented technological advancements in the Headquarters IT infrastructure as well as the member-ship database and website capabilities.
Upon announcing his retirement, Plasker said, “ASPRS is a world-class geospatial organization with members located in nearly every country. As such, I have had the pleasure to serve the membership as well as represent the Society, along with volunteer leadership, both internation-ally and to our sister societies in the USA. The opportunity to work with my colleagues throughout the geospatial community to enhance and improve our profession has been most rewarding to me and hopefully to the ASPRS membership in general.” He looks forward to working with the ASPRS Board of Directors to ensure a smooth and effective transition to a new Executive Director.
Speaking for the ASPRS Board of Directors, President Steve DeGloria expressed deep appreciation and grati-tude for all that Plasker has accomplished on behalf of ASPRS; “His dedication, leadership, and commitment to our professional society and geospatial community have been outstanding. We look forward to continuing interactions with Jim during this transition period and his continuing support of ASPRS in the coming years.”
An active ASPRS member since his college days, Plasker began his career with the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and for 26 years he served in a broad range of capacities, including chief of the Technology Offi ce and chief of the Mapping Control Operations in the Rocky Mountain Mapping Center; assistant chief for Production Operations and associate chief of the National Mapping Division; and associate chief geologist for Operations in the Geologic Division. During his tenure with USGS he was responsible for the development of the National Aerial Photography Program and the National Digital Orthophotoquad Program, both collaborative efforts with colleagues from the U.S. Department of Agricul-ture and the private sector. These programs formed the underpinnings of several current Federal image mapping functions including the National Agriculture Imagery Program (NAIP). He was also responsible for the de-velopment of the USGS Digital Raster Graphic Program through close cooperation with the private sector, and facilitated a multi-organizational Task Force on the Model Law on Surveying to advise NCEES at a time of rapidly changing professional geospatial practice.
Plasker has also held many volunteer leadership posi-tions within ASPRS, the American Congress on Surveying and Mapping, the International Federation of Surveyors, the American Society of Civil Engineers, the U.S. National Section of the Pan American Institute for Geography and History, and ABET. In retirement, Jim and his wife, Billie, plan to return to their native Oregon and once again enjoy the climate and lifestyle of the western U.S.
of the ASPRS membership and the broader geospatial
asprs
Industry News
Contracts
Dewberry was recently selected by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to
provide emergency response remote sensing services throughout the United States and its territories. Services include capturing digital and oblique aerial imagery, lidar, and other remotely sensed information, as well as assessment and distribution of the information to support emergency and non-emergency DHS missions. Dewberry has a long history of supporting DHS with disaster recovery and response assistance and this new contract offers DHS and Dewberry the opportunity to work closer together in times of emergency. For information, visit www.dewberry.com.
MDA Information Systems LLC announced it has signed a contract to provide the Naval
Research Laboratory (NRL) with a mobile ground system tracking antenna in support of the Coalition Tactical Awareness and Response (CTAR) program. This antenna can receive imagery from multiple commercial satellites and be rapidly deployed in any area of inter-est around the world. This system is fully compatible with MDA’s family of small footprint multi-satellite mobile ground systems. For information, visit www.mdaus.com.
People
Aero-Metric, Inc. (AeroMetric) President and
CEO, Patrick Olson, and Vice President of Federal Programs, Scott Perkins, received President’s Awards at the 2013 MAPPS Summer Conference. During the Conference, AeroMetric Vice President of Transportation, Tim Stagg, was re-elected to the board of directors. Olson, an AeroMetric representative to MAPPS since 1995, was one of 10 members to receive a MAPPS President’s Award for outstanding service to the organization during the past year. Olson was presented with his award in recognition of his involvement in a MAPPS taskforce dealing with lidar issues and the Federal Aviation Administration; for serving as MAPPS PAC chairman, MAPPS-USGS liaison, MAPPS delegate to the Council on Federal Procurement of Architecture and Engineering Services (COFPAES); and for his role as a member of the National Geospatial Advisory Com-mittee (NGAC). Perkins, a volunteer since 2000 and former MAPPS Director, also received a President’s Award in recognition of his contributions to MAPPS by serving as the chair-man of the NOAA-MAPPS liaison committee as well as for his role as vice chairchair-man of the Hydrographic Services Review Panel (HSRP). Stagg has been a MAPPS board member since July of 2011. After serving a one-year term as board secretary in 2011 and as treasurer in 2012, Stagg was re-elected to the board as treasurer for 2013.
SAVE THE DATE!
—
Upcoming ASPRS Conferences
October 29–31, 2013
ASPRS/CAGIS 2013 FAll COnFeRenCe Crowne Plaza San Antonio Riverwalk
San Antonio, Texas March 23–27, 2014
ASPRS 2014 AnnuAl COnFeRenCe Galt House Hotel
Louisville, Kentucky november 17–20, 2014 PeCORA 19 SyMPOSIuM Renaissance Denver Hotel
Denver, Colorado
May 4–8, 2015
ASPRS 2015 AnnuAl COnFeRenCe Tampa Bay Marriott Waterside Hotel
Tampa, Florida April 18–22, 2016 ASPRS 2016 Annual Conference
Grand Sierra Hotel Reno, Nevada
