The Earth Is Square

3D Buildings in WWJava

Chad — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 19:53:29 +0000

Here is a video of 3D buildings in WWJava, via the Gaea+ project.

Other videos of Gaea in action:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0KCIIhp8jYw&feature=channel
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BoK35kHrXC4&feature=channel
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=akVTzCSKcoI&feature=channel
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3SR1eEZ90jA&feature=channel

Post from: The Earth Is Square

3D Buildings in WWJava

Sources of Data

Chad — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 22:13:31 +0000

Part of this is from the WorldWind Workshop, some of the data sources are from bookmarks I have collected. Several of the links below include data from several other sources.

Public Domain Sources

National Digital Orthophoto Programs
http://www.ndop.gov/
The National Digital Orthophoto Programs (NDOP) was chartered in 1993 as a consortium of Federal agencies with the purpose of developing and maintaining national orthoimagery coverage in the public domain by establishing partnerships with Federal, State, local, tribal, and private organizations.

The National Map
http://nationalmap.gov/
The National Map is a collaborative effort among the USGS and other Federal, State, and local partners to improve and deliver topographic information for the Nation. It has many uses ranging from recreation to scientific analysis to emergency response. The National Map is easily accessible for display on the Web, as products and services, and as downloadable data.

USGS Global Visualization Viewer
http://glovis.usgs.gov/
The USGS Global Visualization Viewer (GloVis) is a quick and easy online search and order tool for selected satellite data. The viewer allows user-friendly access to all available browse images from a number of Landsat data collections as well as ASTER, MODIS, and EO-1 data.

EarthExplorer
http://edcsns17.cr.usgs.gov/EarthExplorer/
With EarthExplorer you can search, download, and order U.S. Geological Survey products from the following datasets: Aerial Photographs, Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR), Declassified Data, Digital Elevation, Digital Line Graphs, Digital Maps, Earth Observing 1 (EO-1), Global Land Survey, Landsat Archive, Landsat Decadal, and Landsat Science. You can also search and review products from the Radar, Spot, and USGS Commercial datasets.

The National Map Seamless Server
http://seamless.usgs.gov/index.php
The National Map Seamless Server is the ultimate location to explore and retrieve data. U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and the EROS Data Center (EDC) are committed to providing access to geospatial data through The National Map.

GeoData
http://gos2.geodata.gov/wps/portal/gos
geodata.gov is a geographic information system (GIS) portal, also known as the Geospatial One-Stop (GOS), that serves as a public gateway for improving access to geospatial information and data under the Geospatial One-Stop E-Government initiative. Geospatial One-Stop is one of 24 E-Government initiatives sponsored by the Federal Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to enhance government efficiency and to improve citizen services.

NGA-Earth
https://www.geoint-online.net/community/ngaearth/default.aspx
NGA-Earth.org provides access to geospatial data over the World Wide Web. This service brings timely geospatial intelligence (GEOINT) to all users with an Internet connection. Via this access point, NGA has been able to bring current imagery to first responders, aiding in rescue and recovery efforts, while also providing unclassified views of the world in support of its traditional military and intelligence customers.

Global Change Master Directory
http://gcmd.nasa.gov/
Their goal is to enable users to locate and obtain access to Earth science data sets and services relevant to global change and Earth science research. The GCMD database holds more than 25,000 descriptions of Earth science data sets and services covering all aspects of Earth and environmental sciences.

NASA Earth Observations
http://neo.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/Search.html
Their mission is to help you picture climate change and environmental changes happening on our home planet. Here you can search for and retrieve satellite images of Earth.

Group on Earth Observations
http://earthobservations.org/
The Group on Earth Observations is coordinating efforts to build a Global Earth Observation System of Systems, or GEOSS. GEO is a voluntary partnership of governments and international organizations. It provides a framework within which these partners can develop new projects and coordinate their strategies and investments. As of June 2009, GEO’s Members include 79 Governments and the European Commission. In addition, 56 intergovernmental, international, and regional organizations with a mandate in Earth observation or related issues have been recognized as Participating Organizations.

DATA.gov
http://www.data.gov/
The purpose of Data.gov is to increase public access to high value, machine readable datasets generated by the Executive Branch of the Federal Government.

Government Sources

NGA WARP
https://warp.nga.mil/
The NGA Unclassified National Informational Library (UNIL) is an archive of commercial imagery, domestic and non-domestic, available for discovery and dissemination. The Web-Based Archive and Retrieval Portal (WARP), is the interface which provides the on-line access and retrieval capability via the World Wide Web (WWW), NIPRNET, or the NGA Sensitive But Unclassified (SBU) Network.

Army Geospatial Center
http://www.agc.army.mil/

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Sources of Data

WorldWind Post Compilation

Chad — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 01:00:29 +0000

Have several WorldWind related posts in one today.

First up is a WorldWind clone called XnaGlobe. This is a virtial globe that uses the Microsoft XNA codebase. While WorldWind code was looked at and is the inspiration, most of the code behind this globe is new, so there is not as much in the way of features yet. There is camera control, an atmosphere, tile support, terrain, and extensible layer support for services such as Open Street Maps, NASA Landsat 7, and USGS imagery.

Next up is a WWJava application out of SIMEPA, the Meteorological Institute of Parana / Brazil. I don’t have much information on this project/application, other than the developer is looking to process the satellite and radar data arrays into imagery directly in WWJava.

Lastly we have some new changes in the MyUniPortal project.

Moon layers with a sharpness and brightness adjustment feature.

Coordinate changing on the fly.

New map internet search feature.

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WorldWind Post Compilation

Outdated Maps: Bad News for Emergency Responders

Chad — Thu, 28 May 2009 03:06:59 +0000

Interesting story on one of the local news sites about problems responders are having with not being able to find newer locations because the maps they have are out of date.

Over the last three years, Sullivan County 911 has had to update addresses throughout the county. The changes were mandated by the federal and state governments. First responders are still waiting for updated maps.

“We can’t give them the excuse we don’t know where they are,” lamented Chris Kelley, a firefighter from Dushore.

For years, Kelley has relied on maps to find someone in need. The maps are now outdated. Homes and streets have new addresses and names because the county’s 911 system was updated. The new maps are at least a week away from being printed, according to Sullivan County’s 911 Coordinator, Kim Barto. Money is a major factor in the delay, said Barto. She added it would have cost $15,000 to print the maps.

The consequences of not having the maps are even more costly, according to firefighters like Kelley.

“We need to be able to provide that care quickly. If we don’t know where we’re going, the whole chain of survival collapses,” said Kelley.

Post from: The Earth Is Square

Outdated Maps: Bad News for Emergency Responders

WWJava at OSCON

Chad — Thu, 28 May 2009 01:53:38 +0000

OSCON is the Open Source Convention put on by O’Reilly Publications and will be held this July 20-24, at the McEnery Convention Center in San Jose, California.

You can catch Randy Kim and Patrick Hogan on Thursday for their presentation, NASA World Wind: A New Mission.

Virtual Globes are well into their first generation, providing increasingly rich and beautiful visualization of more types and quantities of information. However, they are still mostly single and proprietary programs, akin to a web browser whose content and functionality are controlled and constrained largely by the browser’s manufacturer. Today Google and Microsoft determine what we can and cannot see and do in these programs.

NASA World Wind (.NET) started out in nearly the same mode, a single program with limited functionality and information content on a single platform. But as the possibilities of virtual globes became more apparent, we found that while enabling a new class of information visualization, we were also getting in the way. Many users want to provide World Wind functionality and information in their programs, not ours. They want it in their web pages. They want to include their own features. WorldWind therefore changed its mission: from providing a single information browser to enabling a whole class of 3D geospatial applications on multiple platforms, thanks to Java.

World Wind Java is NASA open source software. Anyone can readily use it and freely extend it to serve any interest. Imagery and other information provided by the World Wind Java servers is also free and unencumbered, including the server technology to deliver geospatial data. World Wind developers can therefore provide exclusive and custom solutions based on user needs.

Post from: The Earth Is Square

WWJava at OSCON