Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/99375
NEWSLINK Project Preserves California Missions in Digital Format The nonprofit CyArk organization, which focuses on digitally preserving historic sites and structures, completed a project to capture imagery of Mission Dolores, the oldest building in San Francisco. The mission work falls under a larger CyArk initiative: its three-year, $1.5-million Digital El Camino Real de California program, which will use 3-D technologies to document the 21 missions, four presidios and three pueblos along the route from San Diego to Sonoma, Calif. Mission Dolores is the first mission to be digitally preserved under the program. The 3-D visualizations and virtual tour of the mission reside on CyArk���s Web site, which can be found at archive.cyark.org/misin-de-nuestro-padresan-francisco-de-ass-mission-dolores-intro. The ongoing efforts are intended to produce accurate documentation for use in conservation, virtual site tours, educational materials and 3-D visualizations. CyArk also launched an interactive map for El Camino Real de California. The map, available via archive.cyark.org, allows users to learn about sites along the route, seeing how the Spanish established maritime routes to connect the presidios and missions in Alta California to ports in Baja California. CyArk has undertaken the recent work using survey techniques, new photographic processes and 3-D laser scanning. Deliverables include CAD drawings, high-dynamic-range photographs, accurate 3-D point clouds, and multimedia for education and cultural tourism. Final files are securely stored in CyArk archives for use by site managers and the public. ���CyArk���s digital-preservation methods not only make a compelling experience for fourth graders and grownups to learn mission history, they also support site conservation and management, engineering of seismic retrofits, and new ways to engage the public to learn about California���s rich Native American and Spanish history,��� noted Tom Greaves, CyArk executive director. ���We really appreciate the support of the individuals and organizations who ���bootstrapped��� the initial work.��� CYARK DigitalGlobe Takes to the Cloud A laser-scanned image shows San Francisco���s Mission Dolores, which has been digitally preserved by CyArk as part of its Digital El Camino Real de California program. 8 G E O W O R L D / D E C E M B E R 2 O 1 2 Commercial remote-sensing company DigitalGlobe unveiled My DigitalGlobe, a cloud-computing-based services platform that gives users access to imagery and geospatial information via desktops, intranets and mobile devices. The portal-like approach should give customers on-demand access to more than 200 million square kilometers of imagery, including content from DigitalGlobe services such as Global Basemap, First Look and Enhanced GEOINT Delivery. ���By giving our customers quick and simple access to geospatial imagery and information���anytime and anywhere���they can make smarter decisions faster,��� said Scott Hicar, senior vice president at DigitalGlobe. ���My DigitalGlobe is the next evolution of imagery dissemination that provides end users with more immediate and reliable access to critical information through the cloud.���