Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/50311
Time-sensitive GeoWorld departments such as NetLink, PeopleLink, Product News and Business News now are maintained solely at the GeoPlace.com Web site. Check there often for the latest updates as they happen. 40 years of work to understand our complex planet from space. NPP is part of an extremely strong slate of current and future innovative NASA science mis- sions that will help us win the future as we make new discoveries." NASA leaders describe NPP as a "bridge mis- sion" that will carry on work from NASA's Earth Observing System (EOS) of satellites to the next gen- eration of satellites, the Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS). JPSS will serve as a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) program to col- lect weather and climate data. As a bridge mission, NPP will give scientists data that build on existing EOS data, helping provide a continuous record for data on features such a clouds, oceans, vegetation, ice, solid Earth and atmosphere. Ultimately, that continuous record should help researchers detect and quantify global environmental changes. NASA plans to operate NPP during its first three months, afterward handing off the satellite to NOAA and the JPSS program. An image from Nov. 8, 2011, shows data for water-vapor measurement in the lower atmosphere, as collected by an instrument aboard the recently launched NPP satellite. Tropical Storm Sean appears as a blue patch in the Atlantic, near the Bahamas. Blue Marble Geographics Acquires Global Mapper Blue Marble Geographics acquired fellow software developer Global Mapper LLC, marrying two organizations operating in similar GIS business niches. Global Mapper, founded in 2001, built its business on designing, developing and distributing its core Global Mapper software package (also distributed by the U.S. Geological Survey as "dlgv32 Pro"). The mapping utility has functions for distance and area calculations, raster blending, feathering, spectral analysis and contrast adjust- ment, elevation querying, line-of-sight calculations, cut- and-fill volume calculations, image rectification, contour generation from surface data, watershed delineation, terrain-layer comparison, and triangulation and gridding of 3-D point data. Blue Marble Geographics, meanwhile, offers geospa- tial data manipulation and conversion solutions to GIS analysts worldwide at software, oil and gas, mining, civil-engineering, surveying, and technology companies as well as government agencies and universities. "We are extremely pleased to announce our purchase A screenshot shows Global Mapper loaded with Blue Marble Geographics imagery. of Global Mapper," said Patrick Cunningham, president, Blue Marble Geographics. "(Global Mapper President) Mike Childs has developed an excellent GIS visualization, translation and analysis tool that will greatly enhance our current product offering. We are pleased to welcome Mike to our team." DECEMBER 2O11 / WWW . GEOPLA CE . C O M 7 NASA/NOAA