headings - 2008 issue 2
TRANSCRIPT
Developing our Future WorkforceContinental Mapping Continues Outreach to Community
Continental Mapping Stays on Leading Edge of Available Technology with Software, TrainingAs part of our continuing effort to improve our methods and stay on the cutting edge of technology, Continental Mapping brought in GeoCue associates Robert Graham and Martin Flood to train some of our staff on the finer points of LiDAR data processing using GeoCue and TerraModeler data processing tools. Staff members from both our Indiana and Wisconsin offices participated in two 3.5-day sessions.
“GeoCue allows us to efficiently process large LiDAR data sets, enabling us to quickly identify various characteristics of certain LiDAR data-types manually, and then let the software drive the majority of the post-processing workflow,” stated Senior Project Manager Frank Taylor, CP, from continued on page 2...
- Photogrammetry and Spatial Data Development Services -
Continental Mapping wrapped up its involvement in the Sun Prairie Chamber of Commerce’s Business and Education Partnership Program for the school year by hosting the 8th grade social studies class from Sacred Hearts School at our main office for a tour and educational presentation.
The Business and Education Partnership Program links classrooms in the community with local businesses to increase the students’ awareness of different career choices available to them in Sun Prairie and beyond. In addition to the on-site visit, Continental Mapping President Dave Hart and Project Manager Candice Kasprzak
also visited Matt Van Effen’s social studies class earlier this year to discuss careers in geography, cartography, and GIS.
During the class’ visit to our office, the students learned about mapping production as well as 3D imaging. They even got to sit down in front of our softcopy photogrammetric workstations, view real mapping imagery, and make an attempt at “putting the dot on the ground” as we say in the business. The students were split into teams, and a competition was held to see which team was the most accurate. Some teams did very well. As for some others… well, we can’t all be photogrammetrists!
Leading Edge continued... Continental Mapping’s Indiana office. “Using this workflow, along with the necessary user expertise and input, large amounts of land-based features can be efficiently identified from the LiDAR data, and elevation data are quickly extracted for the project area. GeoCue software also provides an excellent quality assurance tool to ensure that data sets are processed to the client’s specifications.”
Digital Imagery ProcessingContinental Mapping recently completed a large mapping project using data collected by the Intergraph Digital Mapping Camera (DMC). Data were integrated seamlessly into our existing software infrastructure at both offices, and the project was completed quickly and efficiently by
cooperating teams in Wisconsin and Indiana.
Continental Mapping is also making headway on acquiring the appropriate tools needed to process data from Leica’s ADS40 digital imaging sensors, including the capability to handle ADS40 second generation data from the SH51 and SH52 sensor heads. Unlike the DMC, which provides digital imagery in a format similar to digitized film photography, the ADS40 uses line scanning capture technology to create its imagery, and therefore requires a different processing workflow. Leica representatives are providing guidance on getting set up for ADS40 data sets, and we are looking forward to expanding this capability soon. LiDAR data viewed in GeoCue software
showing a 500’ tall radio tower rising above the tree line
Welcome New Employees!Continental Mapping is pleased to welcome two new employees to our Sun Prairie office. Courtney Daniell joins us from the Upper Valley Lake Sunapee Regional Planning Commission in Lebanon, New Hampshire, where she was a planner. Eric Lane is a recent geography graduate from the University of Wisconsin - La Crosse. Both will be working as GIS and image analysts in our Federal Division.
See Us at Upcoming Conferences
Continental Mapping will be at several conferences in the coming months.
Please look for us at the following...
Indiana Association of Cities and Towns
October 12-15South Bend, Indiana
ASCE/SAME Engineering Conference
October 15Davenport, Iowa
SAME Great Lakes/Ohio River Regional Conference
August 26-28Huntington, West Virginia
Minnesota GIS/LIS Consortium Conference
October 1-3 Rochester, Minnesota
- Photogrammetry and Spatial Data Development Services -
Continental Mapping Consultants, Inc.
Capability Continues to ExpandContinental Mapping has been busy this year expanding our reach and our technical capabilities. In addition to taking on increasingly difficult projects, we’ve been adding new tools to stay up to date with changes in mapping.
International ExperienceContinental Mapping has worked on several mapping projects in Panama through a partner company. Projects have included the photo-identification of control points and coordination of survey with a team in Panama, 1”=400’ scale planimetrics, 2-meter contours, and a .25-meter ortho. This is Continental Mapping’s third year working in Panama, and we look forward to expanding our presence there in the coming year.Continental Mapping Principals are Oregon Licensed PhotogrammetristsContinental Mapping principals David Hart and Christopher Gross were granted licenses as Professional Photogrammetrists by the State of Oregon Board of Examiners for Engineering and Land Surveying in March of 2008.
Very High Accuracy Corridor Mapping Requires Helicopters, New Aerial Acquisition SystemsContinental Mapping is currently involved with a number of multi-modal transportation corridor and energy corridor projects that require very high accuracy mapping. Project requirements include vertical accuracies of 0.1’ in some cases. These projects required us to implement a number of project design and technology changes that include the use of helicopter based acquisition, LiDAR, and digital camera systems. So far in 2008, Continental Mapping has completed hundreds of miles of mapping of highway, rail, and energy corridors, with hundreds of miles to go.Precise Point Positioning Technology for Minimizing Ground ControlContinental Mapping began implementing precise point positioning (PPP) techniques for some projects. Combining precise point positioning with airborne GPS allows us to substantially reduce, and in some cases eliminate, the need for ground control. While this technique does not work for all projects, it gives us another tool for project areas that are difficult to access or for regional scale projects.
Municipal MappingContinental Mapping recently completed an orthophotography update for the city of West Bend, Wisconsin. In 2006, Continental Mapping created city-wide orthophotography at a 4” pixel resolution and delivered 1”=100’ planimetric update mapping and 2’ contours to NSSDA standards. This spring, the city requested updated imagery for its GIS, which Continental Mapping was able to provide. Approximately 30 square miles of photography was collected at a scale that allows for mapping at a later date.
ASPRS Remote Sensing Symposium
November 17-20Denver, Colorado
SAME Small Business Conference
December 8-12Memphis, Tennessee
GEOINT SymposiumOctober 27-30
Nashville, Tennessee
ILGISA Fall ConferenceNovember 5-6
Lombard, Illinois
Wisconsin Land Information Association Fall Meeting
October 16-17Green Lake, Wisconsin
League of Wisconsin MunicipalitiesOctober 22-24
Stevens Point, Wisconsin
- Photogrammetry and Spatial Data Development Services -
Headings • Issue 2 2008
Ground control survey in Panama
For further information on these featuresor general inquiries, please contact:
Continental Mapping Consultants, Inc.
Wisconsin Office121 S. Bristol Street, Suite 201Sun Prairie, WI 53590608.834.9823 phone608.834.8534 fax
Indiana Office201 W. Main Street, Suite 300Plainfield, IN 46168317.244.1800 phone317.536.2606 fax
In This Issue:
• Developing our Future Workforce
• Continental Mapping Stays on Leading Edge of Available Technology with Software, Training
• Capability Continues to Expand
• Welcome New Employees!
• Upcoming Conferences
Continental Mapping Consultants, Inc.121 S. Bristol Street, Suite 201Sun Prairie, WI 53590
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