USGS Historical Map Release

USGS Historical Map Release (Coming Soon)

The USGS Historical Quadrangle Scanning Project (HQSP) is scanning all scales and all editions of approximately 250,000 topographic maps published by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) since the inception of the topographic mapping program in 1884.


National Map Viewer can locate historical Maps for user to download

Because historical maps are stored in a limited number of collections and are not readily available, the USGS National Geospatial Program has begun a project to convert these historical printed topographic quadrangles to an electronic format (GeoTIFF and GeoPDF®). This project serves the dual purpose of creating a master catalog and digital archive copies of the irreplaceable collection of topographic maps in the USGS Reston Map Library as well as making the maps available for viewing and downloading from theUSGS Store and The National Map Viewer.

One of the first Maps Created by USGS back in1886 will be available to download.

Source:
http://dracutlibrary.wordpress.com/2011/08/11/historical-maps/

Official PDF on the project
http://pubs.usgs.gov/fs/2011/3009/fs20113009_013111.pdf [PDF]

Link to the National Map Viewer [USGS Store]
http://store.usgs.gov/b2c_usgs/usgs/maplocator/%28ctype=areaDetails&xcm=r3standardpitrex_prd&carea=%24ROOT&layout=6_1_61_48&uiarea=2%29/.do

*Some maps will require a purchase - but most will be free of charge to download in GeoPDF and GeoTiff formats.

Transport for London - Data Released June 2010

Transport for London Data Released June 2010

Tube Stations Data (but not up-to-date) in KML format

Data is Available from Here [Feb 2010]

http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tfl/syndication/feeds/stations.kml

Metadata is Here

http://data.london.gov.uk/datastore/package/tfl-station-locations

Mapped

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=http:%2F%2Fwww.tfl.gov.uk%2Ftfl%2Fsyndication%2Ffeeds%2Fstations.kml&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=38.365962,78.662109&ie=UTF8&z=10

What is Free?

The London Datastore currently hosts the following travel-related data sets: Via the TfL developer page:

• Station Locations

• TfL Pier Locations

• Live Traffic Cameras

• Oyster Ticket Stop Locations

Static files on GLA servers

• Cycle Hire Locations

• London Underground Signals Passed at Danger

•TfL Investment Programme

• TfL Business Plan

• Riverboat Timetables

The LDS says it is "currently working" on also releasing more datasets by 30 June 2010, including

- Bus Stops

- Bus Routes

- RODS Data (Rolling Origin and Destination Survey Data).

[Note: LIVE FEEDS ARE NOT AVAILABLE signing up required.]

Links to Examples:

http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tfl/businessandpartners/syndication/example-feeds.aspx

Thanks to the Guardian and it's campaign

http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/blog/2010/jun/15/london-datastore-tfl-data-free

ArcGIS 10 - Are You Ready?

ArcGIS 10 - Are You Ready?

Some ESRI users might get a bit of a shock now. ArcGIS 10 is to be released in 14 days
Users with up-to-date maintenance can download it for the first time.
Note: importantant changes to ArcGIS 10 Geodatabases at the bottom of this post.


ESRI to Release ArcGIS 10 by the end of June 2010.

The release date of ArcGIS 10 is announced for 21st June 2010 (ESRI Partners) and 28th June 2010 to everyone else on maintenance.
The 'E' in ESRI (for Environmental) is now acknowledged as ArcGIS will be downloadable.
(2.4 GB for the desktop version)

The bigger shock will be the Minimum Requirements:

Hardware required to drive ArcGIS 10:

CPU Speed 2.2 GHz dual core or higher
Processor Intel Core Duo, Pentium 4 or Xeon Processors

Memory/RAM 2 GB or higher
Display Properties 24 bit color depth
Screen Resolution 1024 x 768 recommended or higher at Normal size (96dpi)
Swap Space Determined by the operating system, 500 MB minimum.
Disk Space 2.4 GB
In addition, up to 50 MB of disk space maybe needed in the Windows System directory (typically C:\Windows\System32). You can view the disk space requirement for each of the 10.0 components in the Setup program.

If using ArcGlobe (as part of 3D Analyst),
additional disk space may be required. ArcGlobe will create cache files when

Video/Graphics Adapter ArcGIS 3D Analyst – ArcGlobe requires a 24-bit capable graphics accelerator

An OpenGL 2.0 or higher compliant video card is required, with at least 128 MB of video memory however 512 MB of video memory or higher is recommended.
Networking Hardware
Simple TCP/IP, Network Card or Microsoft Loopback Adapter is required for the License Manager.

Software Requirements:
.NET Framework 3.5 SP1 must be installed prior to installing ArcGIS Desktop.

Internet Explorer 7+ Some features of ArcGIS Desktop require a minimum installation of Microsoft Internet Explorer Version 7.0 or 8.0. If you do not have an installation of Microsoft Internet Explorer Version 7.0/8.0, you must obtain and install it prior to installing ArcGIS Desktop.

Python Requirement for Geoprocessing:
Several ArcGIS geoprocessing tools, such as Multiple Ring Buffer, use the Python scripting language and require that Python is installed. If the ArcGIS Desktop, Engine or Server setups do not find Python 2.6.2 on the target computer, it will install Python 2.6.2 plus Numerical Python 1.3.0 during a typical or complete installation. You may choose a Custom installation to unselect the Python feature to avoid installing this feature. See the install guide for additional information concerning Python.

Microsoft Vista and Windows 7 WinHelp patch

http://resources.arcgis.com/content/arcgis-desktop-system-requirements#ArcGISDesktop-SoftwareRequirements

Do users need to upgrade Geodatabases?
Yes, but there are situations where you cannot (clients not on the same platform).

But to get New Features like:

1. A new utility, Query Layers based on Stand-alone tables or SQL Tables (queries you define are executed each time you use or render the data).
2. Six New Topology Rules (Polygon: Contains One Point, Line: Must Be Inside etc)
   
3. Controlling the storage has changed. [GEOMETRY_OUTOFLINE, BLOB_OUTOFLINE, and GEOMETRY_AND_BLOB_OUTOFLINE]
4. New Geometric Network Wizard (creates faster geometric networks)
5. Vertical Lines have z-values (you can have the same x,y in 2 features but each has different z values).
6. New data types: ST_Raster, New DBTUNE (SDE API), Varbinary(max) (MS SQL server)
   
7. New date columns created in ArcSDE geodatabases in SQL Server 2008 use the datetime2 data type. Datetime2 can store dates as early as 01/01/0000, whereas the earliest date you can store with a datetime field is 01/01/1753
8. ST_Geometry storage type in geodatabases in Oracle and PostgreSQL can now store parametric circles and ellipses.
9. GEOMETRY_STORAGE parameter can be set to either GEOMETRY or GEOGRAPHY (SQL server)
   

http://help.arcgis.com/EN/ArcGISDesktop/10.0/help/index.html#/What_s_new_for_geodatabases/00qp0000000v000000/

ArcGIS 10 New Features
http://www.esri.com/software/arcgis/whats-new/new-features.html#f1

So are you really ready? Are you sure?

New Live Maps - Goes Live +KML Overlay

New Live 'Search' Maps - Goes Live


New cleaner version of Live Search Maps

and the 3D gets smoother....


Brighton Pier in 3D in FireFox.

Look for the Loader

The Globe show the data loading/rendering for the view.

quick guide -

Shortcut keys...
Home [Button] - Birds Eye -straight down
Page up [Button] - Zooms Out
Page Down [Button] - Zooms in
Cursor keys - Pan in keys direction
Shift - Pivot on that location
Control (Ctrl) Key - tilts and rotates (with mouse)
B - Birds Eye View

Click 'N' (North) on the controls resets the direction to North.

Control and Shift keys can be use with the mouse.

Have a Play - http://maps.live.com/


Some more details coming out.

Codenamed Gemini is Version 2 of Live Maps based on the Virtual Earth 6 Engine

New Features include KML overlay (a global accepted spatial dataset now?)

Seems only points are supported so far here is an example

Google Maps KML overlay

Now Live Maps KML Overlay

Same KML URL but the route(polyline) is missing - though does allow you to subscribe to the KML via RSS

Much more information in more detail is available from the official blog
http://virtualearth.spaces.live.com/default.aspx?wa=wsignin1.0

Google Earth Blog has a very good articial on Basic KML supported by Microsoft
http://www.gearthblog.com/blog/archives/2007/10/microsoft_virtual
_earth_supports_ba.html

Mapperz