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The Laboratory Acquires a New Large Format Scanner | (December 1999) |
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UNH hosts an open house for the first annual Worldwide GIS Day | (November 1999) |
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New Laboratory Plotter Under Review | (October 1999) |
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News about ARC/Info Version 8 | (September 1999) |
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New Carpeting put down in the Laboratory | (August 1999) |
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UNH wins ESRI's Special Achievement Award in GIS | (July 1999) |
In early December the Laboratory for Remote Sensing and Spatial Analysis acquired a new large format scanner for use by all Complex Systems Research Center employees. This MICROTEK Scan Wizard Pro scanner has a scan area of 12 X 17 inches, a hardware resolution of 600 X 1200 dpi and a software enhanced resolution of 9600 dpi. The new scanner was primarily purchased as an upgrade from the laboratory's older 8.5 X 11 inch Lacie Silver Scan scanner for the purpose of scanning larger format aerial photographs, but this scanner also has the ability to scan multiple photos, slides, and transparencies. For scanner operation instructions please see the Quick Reference Guide Card next to the scanner in the laboratory (Room 253) or view this information off of the Facilities link on the laboratory main page.
On November 19th, 1999 the Institute for the Study of Earth Oceans and Space (EOS) hosted over 100 students and faculty at an open house for the first annual Worldwide GIS Day in the second floor atrium of Morse Hall. Worldwide GIS Day is sponsored by Environmental Systems Research Institute Inc., the National Geographic Society, and the Association of American Geographers and is meant to help propagate geographic knowledge and make people more aware of the fact that geography-based GIS technology is a part of their lives.
At EOS, and throughout the entire University, geographic databases and geography-based GIS technologies are being built, and used to propagate geographic knowledge through applications, academics and research at the local, state, regional, national and global scales. In recognition of all efforts to this end, EOS displayed GIS products from the UNH GIS community as well as products from local planning commissions. In addition, demonstrations of GIS and related technologies were conducted, and tours were provided of EOS GIS facilities.
Representatives from the NH GRANIT project, the Global Hydrologic Archive and Analysis System project, the ESIPs project, the China Land Use and Land Cover Change project, the GLOBE Project, the University of New Hampshire Geography Club, and the Rockingham Reional Planning Commission all participated in a successful day of geography and technology transfer with all attendeed.
There are already plans in the works for GIS Day 2000 and if you would like to participate please contact Michael Routhier at University of the New Hampshire. (mike.routhier@unh. edu)
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Currently the Laboratory for Remote Sensing and Spatial Analysis is reviewing the specifications of the new HP 3500 CP 54 inch swath plotter for purchase. This plotter has 600 x 600 dpi resolution which is a great improvement over the lab's current 300 x 300 HP 755 plotter. Unlike the HP 755, the HP 3500 CP plotter has a high volume inking system and a take-up real. This plotter is also capable of accepting 36 inch rolls of paper as well as the 54 inch rolls. The new HP 3500 CP plotter accepts bond, high gloss, vellum, and matte media. Please see the laboratory manager to see sample output from this plotter.
ESRI is going to be releasing Arc/Info version 8 by the end of this year and this new release is suspected to have many changes over what we are use to. This is primarily true, but only in the release of Arc/Info version 8 for the Windows NT platform. ArcInfo version 8 for UNIX has some minor advancements, but for the most part it acts and feels very much like the older 7.x releases. ESRI insists that they are not abandoning the UNIX platform, but they are just taking advantage of the strengths of the NT platform with the NT version 8 release. The version 8 release will come with a copy of version 8 for UNIX and NT packaged together under a single license and will still support all previous version data types and AMLS under both platforms.
Version 8 on the NT platform still allows for the line command that we are use to, but it now also offers three graphic user interface applications to create, manage and process spatial data. These parts of Arc/Info are called ArcMap, ArcCatalog, and ArcToolBox. ArcMap is a map-centric application for analyzing, editing and displaying data. It has the look and feel of ArcView, but with more tools. It appeared to be better optimized for the hardware with quicker draw times. It allows for drag, drop and draw capabilities for coverages and shape files directly into map displays. It also allows for on the fly map projections for editing and displaying of spatial data.
ArcCatalog is a data-centric application for managing spatial data. It has an MS explorer-like interface for browsing through your datasets. It allows for the viewing of thumbnail images of all data layers within your database. It also contains an integrated metadata tool to allow for the input, editing and querying of metadata for several ESRI formats. This tool is FGDC compliant, but it also allows for the creation of non-standard fields to allow for maximum flexibility when constructing your metadata records.
ArcToolBox is a compilation of several wizards to allow for the easy implementation of 120 of the most used tools in ArcInfo. It comes complete with an entirely new geo-statistical processing and graphing tool for the easy use of advanced geo-statistics via a graphic user interface. This tool includes additional projection options and improvements over ArcInfo version 7.x including the fixing of the bug which caused unclosed polygons to stretch across the world from the + and - 180 degree longitude lines on full global coverages in some projections. Version 8 projections are driven by the ESRI projection engine (PE) which is a potential source of projection capabilities for independent development projects. Version 8 also allows for the creation of customized tools and toolbars with inherent features of the software as well as with Visual Basic for Applications which is packaged with the release.
In mid August new carpeting was put down in all three rooms of the Laboratory for Remote Sensing and Spatial Analysis. The lab is housed in room 253, 253A and 253B of Morse Hall and consists of the main laboratory, the laboratory conference room and the laboratory map room. Over the years this laboratory has seen its share of foot traffic with many major projects leveraging off of the laboratory equipment and resources. The new carpeting is a much welcomed improvement over the old carpet.
Each year ESRI recognizes organizations that have been selected for their outstanding work in the GIS field. This Year at the ESRI 1999 International Users Conference held in San Diego California, the University of New Hampshire was awarded one of the prestigious ESRI Special Achievement Award in GIS from out of 100,000 user sites worldwide. The University was recognized for its development and use of GIS databases and technologies to propagate geographic knowledge at the local, state, regional and global scales through applications, academics and research.
Jack Dangermond, president of ESRI, presenting the ESRI Special Achievement Award in GIS to Michael Routhier for the University of New Hampshire at the ESRI 1999 International User Conference in San Diego California.
