The geospatial industry touches so many different parts of our lives and is so wide-ranging that it can be a challenge to keep up with all of the various subsections. That is why, every other week, we sweep the internet to find some stories that can highlight where things are in the industry today, ideally in a way that touches all different aspects of the sector. Today, that means highlighting a few of the different sub-industries within geospatial. First, we look at the future of urban development and smart cities, and the place of geospatial data within that. Then, we have a story about the influx of satellites into our orbit. And finally, we have a story looking at a new model for fighting wildfires using lidar data.
Find links to the full stories below.
Building tomorrow's cities today
Brian Civin | Biz Community
It wasn’t all that long ago that the idea of a “smart city” was one of the buzziest topics in tech, with visions of futuristic urban environments that would streamline nearly every corner of a citizen’s day-to-day life. While the hype cycle has significantly slowed down, development of smart city tools is still very much alive, something we’ve covered here at Geo Week News. As new technologies improve, the conversations are starting to get louder again around more specific smart city concepts, and the future of urban environments is back in focus. As Civin writes in this article, geospatial data is going to be central to any of these developments.
Is the Fear of Satellite Collision and Debris Justified?
Bogdan Gogulan | Geospatial World
Earth observation is certainly not a brand new space, but it’s one that is rapidly changing as access to launches and development of satellites is becoming both easier and cheaper. While there are still questions about how the private sector can benefit from this data, the industry is quickly growing and satellites – from both Earth observation and other sectors like connectivity – are filling up space. In turn, though, that is leading to questions around space litter and over saturation of satellites above Earth’s atmosphere. This article wonders if those fears are overblown?
Wildland firefighters hit their STRIDE
Lisa Potter | At The U
Seemingly every day we are learning about new applications for lidar data and new models being created to solve real-world problems with that data. Here, we have yet another example of the phenomenon, this time looking to assist those fighting wildfires. The article covers a new model known as STRIDE, created by researchers from the University of Utah and which uses lidar data to identify the most efficient route between two points.
