Landsat EO IotD
Continuing coverage.....
posted on: Tue, 12 Feb 2013 | path: /remote_sensing | permanent link to this entry
Landsat 8 :: we a a go
Landsat 8 is off the ground - Jonathon Amos provides some good background. Watch this space as it will take 3 months to make the satellite operational in terms of the correct orbit with Landsat 7 and fully calibrated. Then let the data roll.....
posted on: Mon, 11 Feb 2013 | path: /remote_sensing | permanent link to this entry
Landsat Links
My pick of some of the great Landsat links from NASA. Enjoy!
Landsat Flyby
Landsat Scale Model and instructions (very cool)
LDCM Overview Video
Earth as Art
LDCM Overview Brochure
Guinness World of Records
LDCM Overview
posted on: Mon, 11 Feb 2013 | path: /remote_sensing | permanent link to this entry
!! Landsat Launch !!
Just a reminder that Landsat 8 is launching tomorrow, Monday 11 February. Plan a party and watch it live on NASA TV....10am PST launch, which means 6pm UK time
posted on: Sun, 10 Feb 2013 | path: /remote_sensing | permanent link to this entry
Drones hit the big time.......
Very useful tech story over at The Guardian on the increasing civilian applications of drones (or UAVs to to the rest of us). The is a useful summary of the current status quo, perhaps the most telling part is this:
"Companies like this have to operate under strict legislation. Our flight in Chelsea Physic Garden required an operator's licence, permission from the Civil Aviation Authority and the police. Because of the urban environment, flight was limited to 100 feet and the local heliport had to be informed as soon as the vehicle was in the air. In the US, any commercial flight is banned."
UAVs offer a fascinating future for remote sensing....be warned, its going to be a bumpy road!
posted on: Sat, 09 Feb 2013 | path: /remote_sensing | permanent link to this entry
Subglacial bedforms reveal an exponential size-frequency distribution
Hillier, J., Smith, M.J., Clark, C.D., Stokes, C.R. and Spagnolo, M. (2013)
Geomorphology
Subglacial bedforms preserved in deglaciated landscapes record character-istics of past ice-sediment flow regimes, providing insight into subglacial processes and ice sheet dynamics....
posted on: Sat, 09 Feb 2013 | path: /publications/journals | permanent link to this entry
Bibliographic webmap: the Physical Landscape of Britain and Northern Ireland
Piccinini, C., Smith, M.J., Hooke, J. and Hesketh, K. (2013)
Journal of Maps
In this article we present the development of a web mapping application as part of the “Physical Landscape of Britain and Northern Ireland” project....
posted on: Sat, 09 Feb 2013 | path: /publications/journals | permanent link to this entry
EPoD Update
A while back I blogged about the NASA Earth Science Picture of the Day.....it's a staunch member of my daily RSS feeds and, to put my money where my mouth is, I contributed to it as well. So feel free to take a look at Roche Moutonnee on Cadair Idris, Wales.
posted on: Sat, 09 Feb 2013 | path: /glaciology | permanent link to this entry
Landsat Infographic
Nice Landsat Infographic from NASA/USGS
posted on: Thu, 07 Feb 2013 | path: /remote_sensing | permanent link to this entry
Word Useful Tip of the Day: how to draw a straight line
How many times have you thought you'd just use the drawing tools in Word (2003 in my case!) to draw a straight line to add that extra design dimension to your document to find that it wasn't quite straight and ended up with some ungainly "jaggies" in it?? Maybe not at all, but every so often for me. So much so that I've tried alternative methods for creating line (like using paragraph borders or tables).
In trying to sort out a design today I finally did some online search to find...... press and hold the Shift key whilst dragging until after you've released the mouse button. This holds the line to principal points of the compass and ensures it's straight.
Problem solved :)
posted on: Sun, 03 Feb 2013 | path: /computing | permanent link to this entry
What are the "sticky" times tables?
Really, think what's your favourite times table? Say it out aloud.... eight times eight equals sixty four....
posted on: Fri, 25 Jan 2013 | path: /teaching | permanent link to this entry
Nexus 7 Upgrade
It's been quite awhile since I posted on my Nexus 7 - I can only say that it works, very well, and is exceptionally good to stuff in a bag and let you to web and email stuff on the move largely without the restriction of a small screen....
posted on: Mon, 21 Jan 2013 | path: /computing | permanent link to this entry
Jonathan Amos on Landsat 8
With the launch of Landsat 8 just 23 days away expect to see plenty of Landsat glorification going on. Jonathan Amos has a nice summary piece, with plenty of imagery (see great example below), outlining the mission from the beginning and its future. Well worth a read.
posted on: Sat, 19 Jan 2013 | path: /remote_sensing | permanent link to this entry
Everything You Need to Know about Landsat 8
Everything You Need to Know about Landsat 8
posted on: Tue, 15 Jan 2013 | path: /remote_sensing | permanent link to this entry
Best Digital Globe
Great set of images at the BBC....... the winner is perhaps not a surprise (it is good), but look at the full set of 20. Space Shuttle is my pick.
posted on: Sun, 13 Jan 2013 | path: /remote_sensing | permanent link to this entry
Weogeo: Top 10 free datasets
Nice New Year's list over at Weogeo on the top ten free datasets......
posted on: Fri, 04 Jan 2013 | path: /GIS | permanent link to this entry
2012 from Space
Some great images from the BBC
posted on: Fri, 28 Dec 2012 | path: /remote_sensing | permanent link to this entry
Landsat 5 Decommissioned
It is with great sadless that we learnt of the passing away of an old friend today. At the grand old age of 29, Landsat 5 was put out of its misery due to lack of capability and, well, simply being too old....
posted on: Fri, 21 Dec 2012 | path: /remote_sensing | permanent link to this entry
KindleFirmware Update: 3.4
Kindle updated the firmware for its keyboard (and other) ebook readers to version 3.4. Amazon have always been good with long support and incremental improvements to stability (a rare thing in the "I can top that" IT industry)....
posted on: Thu, 20 Dec 2012 | path: /computing | permanent link to this entry
Light Painting Photos
A great series of photos for the Christmas season
posted on: Tue, 18 Dec 2012 | path: /fun | permanent link to this entry
Non-sense about science
Yes, The Express is at it again; that bastion of Britishness, source of high quality news stories that just might make The Sun look like evidence based journalism has decided that to sell more copy it needs to advocate alternative treatments for cancer....
posted on: Tue, 18 Dec 2012 | path: /publications | permanent link to this entry
If you're a noob to IT forums.....
......watch this video. I couldn't stop laughing.....but O so true.
posted on: Thu, 13 Dec 2012 | path: /computing | permanent link to this entry
Tech nostalgia......
Stuff has a great article on the sound of tech - listen, remember, feel nostalgic. Yes, we really did think they were cool!
posted on: Wed, 12 Dec 2012 | path: /computing | permanent link to this entry
Benugo Waterloo: great location, good product, service.....utter FAIL
What can I say, Benugo have a fantastic location at Waterloo for a coffee bar. For a station, its relaxing and peaceful, however can they get their act together to deliver their core product? No. Last week, one person ahead of me to pay for coffee, three people ahead of me waiting for coffee.... how long did it take? Ten minutes and in the process serving two people *behind* me in the queue. This isn't a one off and clearly they haven't got a clue how to deliver a rapid service in such a location. Maybe their restaurants are better, but at this location they are a complete failure. Go downstairs to Costa where they know their product, clientele and service.
posted on: Wed, 12 Dec 2012 | path: /eating | permanent link to this entry
London buses and mapping
I have been exploring the use of London buses a little more recently and so naturally started looking at routes and timetables to see how accessible different parts of London are; for instance, did you know that the number 188 runs from St Pancras to the O2 Arena?...
posted on: Sun, 09 Dec 2012 | path: /GIS | permanent link to this entry
RGS Children's Lecture
Christmas sees a proliferation of lectures and meetings with, increasingly, many aimed at children (perhaps exemplified by the Royal Society)....
posted on: Sat, 08 Dec 2012 | path: /meetings | permanent link to this entry
More NPP VIIRS images
A great series of images showing night time imagery from VIIRS (you need to click on the image to get the slideshow). Great catch Josie, thanks!
UPDATE: and over at EOID and again
posted on: Wed, 05 Dec 2012 | path: /remote_sensing | permanent link to this entry
Fundamental benchmarks
Nice article at the OS on fundamental benchmarks.....
posted on: Tue, 04 Dec 2012 | path: /GIS | permanent link to this entry
EPoD - be stunned by nature
I stumbled across NASAs Earth Science Picture of the Day a while back after doing some research around another of my favourite RSS feeds, NASAs Earth Observatory Image of the Day. This is arguably better (but maybe I'm just used to satellite imagery now!), in part because the imagery is far more varied and therefore the accompanying discussion fascinating. I learn a huge amount from the variety on display here with often stunning photography. And as a sometimes keen photographer it is interesting to look at the metadata for the imagery to see how they were shot.
posted on: Tue, 04 Dec 2012 | path: /remote_sensing | permanent link to this entry
What do you do with an old spy satellite?
Good question and one that was reported during the summer - a better than Hubble pair of left-over military hardware that was never used (and can "spot a dime on top of the Washington monument"!) and goign for begging. Only $100,000 to store whilst you make up your minds. AnNyway, NASA is now asking the community what they want to investigate.
posted on: Tue, 27 Nov 2012 | path: /remote_sensing | permanent link to this entry
ArduSat
I know this did the rounds a while back but the remote sensing and Arduino worlds have firmly collided with the great ArduSat project. A tiny 10x10cm cubesat packed with lots of sensors that are Arduino controlled. Trying to launch summer 2013 but I guess see how the project develops. It went forward for extended funded up to $100,000 which was successful so interesting to see how it goes!
posted on: Tue, 27 Nov 2012 | path: /remote_sensing | permanent link to this entry
Chartered Geographer
In the last post I mentioned the Chartered Geographer (CGeog) accreditation run by the Royal Geographical Society....
posted on: Thu, 15 Nov 2012 | path: /GIS | permanent link to this entry
GIS as a profession...in the UK
Following on from my previous post on David DiBiase's paper of GIS as a profession, it's worth pondering the UK situation briefly (and no reflection on the original US centric paper....
posted on: Sun, 11 Nov 2012 | path: /GIS | permanent link to this entry
GIS as a profession?
A thought provoking article from David DiBiase at Esri Inc on Strengthening the GIS Profession. It outlines some of the history of the profession, the growing importance to the economy, primary traits of a "profession" and whether GIS meets them. A useful read for all aspiring and current GIS professionals.
posted on: Wed, 07 Nov 2012 | path: /GIS | permanent link to this entry
Puppy Linux
I came across the rather excellent Puppy Linux recently....OK, there are many Linux distributions most offering far more sophisticated OS implementations, however what is so satisfying about Puppy is that it is small, fast and very usable. A full OS that fits within 100Mb (250Mb with OpenOffice) means that it runs entirely within memory and is *very* fast. Want to be as discreet and private in your PC habits?? Carry Puppy on a CD/USB, boot directly in to it and run office, web browser, email directly off it. Comes with a variety of tools to work with your PC as well. Incredibly satisfying to use!!
posted on: Wed, 07 Nov 2012 | path: /computing | permanent link to this entry
Lack of educational leadership from Central Bedfordshire UA?
As a governor at a school in Central Bedfordshire the last few years have been exciting times..... central government have pushed through a breathtaking raft of changes with the Academies programme a central plank....
posted on: Fri, 02 Nov 2012 | path: /fun | permanent link to this entry
NPP VIIRS Specifications
After the earlier blog post on day-night imaging I was interested to see what the exact specifications of NPP VIIRS are.... the NASA site had been down probably because of the interest in Hurricane Sandy, however it now seems available again. But there is very little information on the sensor itself somewhat surprisingly - even the Raytheon spec sheet is quite spartan. So no farther forward although I hope we'll get more details in the coming months.
posted on: Thu, 01 Nov 2012 | path: /remote_sensing | permanent link to this entry
Another Q: Landsat equatorial crossing time?
I had another good question in class last week as to why the Landsat missions have/had a ~10am UTC equatorial crossing time....
posted on: Tue, 30 Oct 2012 | path: /remote_sensing | permanent link to this entry
Satellite imaging at night
I was asked in-class this week about imaging the Earth's surface at night...... does it happen? The short answer is yes, it can, but generally doesn't for much of the Earth-resource imaging that takes place....
posted on: Mon, 29 Oct 2012 | path: /remote_sensing | permanent link to this entry
Livescribe in action
Following on from my last post introducing the LiveScribe pen I wanted to highlight some useful resources and functions, as well as demo my first two "pencasts"....
posted on: Sat, 20 Oct 2012 | path: /teaching | permanent link to this entry
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