10_8 Asia Pacific Broadcast (New Satellites and Rockets, Mumbai Mapping and More)

Hello, and welcome to this Asia Pacific-themed GeoSpatial Stream. I’m your host, Todd Danielson, and today’s Lead Sponsor is Trimble Geospatial Division.

Today’s Top Story is Asian Satellites and Rockets, and there are several announcements I’ll cover quickly.

On September 25th, China launched the Pujian-1 satellite, which will aid urban management by monitoring traffic and smog. The satellite also can be used to support resource surveys as well as emergency response and rescue.

China then launched on September 30th its 20th Beidou navigation satellite, which is providing an alternative to the U.S.-operated GPS. This is the first Beidou satellite to feature a hydrogen atomic clock.

China also introduced a new smaller type of rocket from its “Long March” family. The Long March-6 reached space on Sept. 20th carrying 20 micro satellites.

And China-based Twenty First Century Aerospace Technology released the first in-orbit images acquired from its recently launched TripleSat Constellation.

Outside of China, the Indian Space Research Organisation launched on Sept. 28th a PSLV rocket carrying ASTROSAT, a dedicated space observatory aimed at monitoring the universe, as well as six foreign satellites, including for the first time four U.S. satellites, all primarily focused on maritime intelligence and tracking.

For more details on all of these launches and more, visit the Asian Surveying and Mapping website: www.asmmag.com

That was today’s Top Story. I’ll be back with more news after this Trimble interview clip from the 2015 Esri User Conference.

In Mumbai, about 100 students mapped three stretches of the Mithi River to record encroachments, sewage outlets and percolation points using GIS.

And Japanese scientists are using laser-scanning technology to study and map ancient tombs throughout the country.

In industry headlines, Esri introduced a Story Map detailing the Syrian refugee crisis, noting that seven million people have been displaced within Syria’s borders.

Six months after arriving in Nepal to help with earthquake-relief efforts and damage assessment, Miyamoto International established a permanent operation in Kathmandu with local engineering partner, Tech Design.

Intergraph acquired the Intellectual Property rights to OnDuty, a new suite of mobile applications developed in collaboration with New Zealand Police.

And Skeye BV and Fugro Maps used a fixed-wing drone to complete an aerial topographic survey in Abu Dhabi during the summer, where temperatures reached 68 degrees Celsius. If you’re an American like me who had to convert that, it’s about 154 degrees Fahrenheit. Yeah.

For today’s Final Thought, here are some clips from a video describing how an artist collective in Semarang, Indonesia, is using Ushahidi mapping to improve citizen participation in government.

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I’m Todd Danielson, and this … was your GeoSpatial Stream.