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IMIA Report                                                                               

Industry News, Profiles and Future Events                 

May 2016

12-Year-Old Wins Geographic Bee in Nail Biter
How Would You Do?
Students demonstrate an impressive command of maps
and world affairs in thrilling competition.

Rishi Nair - Crowned Winner

Which East African lake that drains into the Ruzizi River contains large quantities of dissolved methane gas that could generate electricity for millions of people?

After answering that question correctly (Lake Kivu, duh), Rishi Nair, a 12-year-old from Florida, was crowned winner of the  28th National Geographic Bee. Nair bested nine other finalists in a game show format competition hosted at National Geographic headquarters in Washington, D.C., Wednesday. 
The competition is open to grades four through eight, and the finalists ranged in age from 10 to 14 years old. This year's bee began with a field of two and a half million contestants from 11,000 schools across the U.STo read more...

Breathtaking Hubble Telescope Images
 
Since it was launched in 1990, the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) has sent us breathtaking images back from the deepest corners of space. To read more and see the slide show...

Battlefield Sites
of the World

A map has been produced which plots all the battlefield sites of the world. The interactive map enables users to select a time period and view events. It is probably of little surprise that the USA and UK show the highest concentration of symbols!

Stunning Maps Highlight the Tricks in a Cartographer's Toolkit
The 10 techniques that help convert our 3-D world into maps. B y Lauren Young

When cartographers create maps, they are faced with an extremely difficult challenge. They must lay out our complex world on a flat surface. In many ways, cartographers need to be  acute visual translators, devising the best ways to communicate space and geography. To read more...
Could This Voice Make You Care About Geography?  
Sylvain Kahn
Planète Terre opens each week with extraterrestrial electronica and a creaky intonation, in French: I've always dreamed of knowing the future, of seeing how the world changes, of seeing humanity's advances. Hearing that, you might suspect this weekly radio broadcast is beaming to your laptop or iPhone straight from outer space.

This year is the 10th birthday of the world's most prominent - only? - major radio program about geography . Hosted by the great Sylvain Kahn, the show, which airs every Wednesday online and on public channel France Culture , is a dynamic exploration of geography's interconnection with near everything: borders, Creoles, train stations, how Paris smells, scary viruses, shrinking cities, lions and polar bears, Peter Pan and Tintin. Chocolate as mirror of the world!  To read more...

NASA Scientists Explain the Art of Creating Digital Hurricanes
NASA tropical meteorologists Oreste Reale and Marangelly Fuentes pose with a hyperwall display of the Global Modeling and Assimilation Office's simulation of a hurricane. Credits: NASA / Goddard / Deb McCallume
 
Every day, scientists at NASA work on creating better hurricanes - on a computer screen. At NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, a team of scientists spends its days incorporating millions of atmospheric observations, sophisticated graphic tools and lines of computer code to create computer models simulating the weather and climate conditions responsible for hurricanes. Scientists use these models to study the complex environment and structure of tropical storms and hurricanes.
 
Getting the simulations right has huge societal implications, which is why one Goddard scientist chose this line of work.
 
"Freshwater floods, often caused by hurricanes, are the number one cause of death by natural disasters in the world, even above earthquakes and volcanoes," tropical meteorologist Oreste Reale with Goddard's Global Modeling and Assimilation Office (GMAO) said. "Seeing how the research we do could have an impact on these things is very rewarding." Improved models can lead to better prediction and warning for these natural disasters, mitigating loss of life and property.
 
Getting to the point of being able to accurately study hurricanes using computer models, however, is not easy. Because hurricanes are such complex storm systems, capturing their full nature in detail using a computer simulation is far from simple.  "We need to add complexity all the time and nobody here is afraid of doing that," Reale said. "You don't want a simple solution. If it's simple, chances are it's not true."   Adding complexity can include updating the models, incorporating data from new satellites, replacing old satellites and more.  To read more...
 

IMIA Americas MeetUP
IMIA Americas MeetUP
Tuesday, June 14, 2016
1:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m. 

National Park Service
12795 West Alameda Parkway, Room 10A
Lakewood, CO 80228 USA

IMIA Americas invites you to attend its first MeetUP on Tuesday, June 14, 2016 at 1:00 p.m. at the National Park Service in Lakewood, Colorado.  The objective is to exchange information and learn what is happening in our industry. 
 
Registration is complimentary for IMIA members and for non-members the registration fee is $40.  Registration is required for all attendees prior to the event. 

The IMIA MeetUP also includes "lightning" talks of 10 minutes per speaker and five minutes for questions lasting a total of one hour. The targeted, informative and relevant topics of the presentation intend to share the experiences and innovations of real industry leaders in the field of mapping, cartography and spatial business.

IMIA will be hosting a panel during the upcoming MeetUP in Denver that focuses on efforts that are currently underway to consolidate and improve geospatial data throughout the Federal Government. Land management agencies are actively bringing together data from their various local and regional offices, while the USGS is making some of this data available through The National Map.  These efforts are helping to improve the quality and access to geospatial data.  This panel will allow those attending the IMIA Denver MeetUP to better understand the data that is currently and to be available in the near future from various agencies of the Federal Government.  Participants will include Greg Matthews from U.S. Geological Survey, Nate Irwin from the National Parks Service, John Varner from the Bureau of Land Management, and Robert Aiken from the U.S. Forest Service.   Brian Fox from U.S. Geological Survey will moderate the panel discussion. 

Click to view the presenter biographies and photos: http://imiamaps.org/meetup-denver/federal-geospatial-data-consolidation-effort

This event is being sponsored by Esri,  Frederic Printing , National Geographic Maps , and U.S. Geological Survey.
More Ads Coming To Google's Maps
 
MOUNTAIN VIEW (KCBS/AP) - You may start seeing more ads when getting directions from Google's popular mapping  serviceThe additional ads will show up inside the directions map as Google routes you to your destination.

The ads, called "promoted pins," will highlight restaurants and other merchants located along your way.
Google has displayed text ads alongside its online maps for several years. But the change announced Tuesday marks the first time the Internet  company has inserted the equivalent of a digital billboard into the map providing you with directions.

Only a small group of people will initially see promoted pins. Google plans to test how they're received and whether the marketing pitches distract drivers.
40 Maps That Will Help You Make Sense of the World
This post comes via Twisted Sifter. The website points out that "Maps can make a point resonate with readers and this collection aims to do just that."
Flag Map of the World Map by andrewfahmy on Reddit

If you're a visual learner like myself, then you know maps, charts and infographics can really help bring data and information to life. Maps can make a point resonate with readers and this collection aims to do just that.
Hopefully some of these maps will surprise you and you'll learn something new. A few are important to know, some interpret and display data in a beautiful or creative way, and a few may even make you chuckle or shake your head.   To read more and view the maps... 
Then & Now:
Lincoln Highway Road Maps
 
Navigating by automobile at the dawn of the 20th century was a difficult proposition because maps appropriate for this new form of transportation were essentially nonexistent.
 
By the late 1890s and early 1900s, state road books, route books, automobile road guides and route lists were regionally available to aid the motorist.
 
Even with the early route books and road guides, it still was difficult for the early motorist traveling along the Lincoln Highway. To read more...
 
Google and Levi Plan Smart Jacket Launch with Maps, Spotify Integration
You better get used to wearables: The jacket is machine washable -- as long as you take out the sensor.
Sean Hollister / CNET
 
Google and Levi Strauss announced a commuter smart jacket that will enable wearers to answer phone calls, control maps, music, and more, right from the connected jacket's sleeve.

The announcement was made at Google I/O on Friday, where Levi said the jacket will be available in spring 2017, with a beta version planned for fall 2016. It's not clear how much the commuter smart jacket will cost, but it will be geared toward cyclists with gesture, tap, and swipe functionality.
 
Google's Advanced Technology and Projects (ATAP) division partnered with Levi to utilize its Project Jacquard technology announced last year, centered around connected textiles and clothing. Google says it plans to partner with more clothing companies, as athletic clothing could have a big appeal.

Mapmakers Plot a New Direction


New directions in map making at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.  
CBS NEWS
Memorial Day weekend -- the unofficial start of summer -- is just a week away. And with driving costs at a six-year low, AAA says 55 percent of Americans are likely to take holiday road trips.
 
Thanks to turn-by-turn directions available on our smartphones, few travelers are likely to use paper maps to find their way.
 
Nearly a century after Rand McNally started making drivers' atlases, in 1924, driving directions have mainly gone digital.

 "In 100 feet, turn left at the light." 
So if everyone has digital directions on their dashboard, who still needs a paper map? Have GPS and Google put traditional map-makers out of business? Hardly, as correspondent Mark Albert discovered.
 
Daniel Huffman is a cartographer who lectures at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, considered by many to be the cradle of academic map-making in the United States. To read more...

Senior Graphics Editor, Cartography
  

Senior Graphics Editor, Cartography
Job Number: FNG0005025
Organization: National Geographic Partners
Job Type: Editorial
Location: Washington, District of Columbia, United States
Job Posting Date: May 24, 2016

The Senior Graphics Editor, Cartography will play a major role in conceiving, researching, designing and producing National Geographic's maps both online and in print. While this is a senior cartographic role, it is also an editorial position; journalism skills are required. This includes exercising independent judgment regarding sources of information and quality of information as well as developing story ideas and concepts for maps. Collaborate with other editors and the Daily News team in determining mapping directions for stories, particularly in their digital expressions. Candidates should be team oriented, but confident in the value of their own ideas, contribution, and role. Find final cartographic solutions while coordinating efforts with Research, Editorial, Photo, Design, etc., for on-schedule delivery of maps. Managing projects towards a timely completion and within budget. Be prepared to do own research if necessary.  To read more about this career opportunity...

 
IMIA Asia Pacific Meetup Adelaide, South Australia
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Esri Powering Zika Disease Mapping Effort

Redland-based geographical information systems (GIS) and mapping technology developer Esri says its mapping software is being used in an effort to map the Zika virus.

According to Esri, the Pacific Disaster Center (PDC) is using the company's platform to track Zika on a global scale, mapping out reported and suspected cases of the disease. The PDC apparently is gathering updates and bullets from around the world to populate its online map.

Interactive Map Highlights
Sea Level Risk Sites
 
A new tool from APSEA award winning team at NGIS have released a first of its kind tool to allow Australians to visualise how sea level rise driven by climate change will impact their areas.

A BETA version of the Coastal Risk Australia interactive webmap has been made openly available and charts the majority of Australia's enormous coastline to show how sea level rise could impact Australia under a number of different climate scenarios. Coastal Risk Australia incorporates 3D LiDAR, Google Engine and local tidal data to accurately map how rising sea levels could encroach on cities, towns and beaches under three scientific scenarios. To read more...

 2016 Calendar of Events
IMIA Americas MeetUP
June 14, 2016
Lakewood, CO USA

Esri User Conference
June 27 -  July 01, 2016
San Diego, CA USA

IMIA Asia Pacific Meetup
July 6, 2016
Adelaide, Australia

GeoCart'2016
National Cartographic Conference "Unfolding the Map"
29 - 30th August / Map Design (Pre-Conference Workshop)
31st August - 2nd September / Wellington, New Zealand

IMIA Americas Annual Conference
November 29 - December 02, 2016
Omni Hotel San Diego
San Diego, CA USA


 
 
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