QGIS screencasts help you get a jump start

The folks over at the QGIS blog have posted two screencasts to help get you started with QGIS and its GRASS integration.

MODIS Hotspots KML

Fire Information for Resource Management (FIRMS) at the University of Maryland is now offering KML to view MODIS Hotspot detections for the past 24 hours using Google Earth. Check out the Southern California fires that blew up this weekend. FIRMS KML link. Cheers, Josh

Spotted Owl in the news.

Spotted Owl in the news. I noticed this on the front page of the NYTimes webpage. (SNAMP)

Amazon natives use Google Earth, GPS to protect rainforest home

See this great article for an encouraging view of geospatial tools for conservation.

New York Times Interactive Maps

From Josh. Interactive maps on NYT.

Remote Sensing (a film by Ursula Biemann)

Sarah Reed pointed this out to me. I wasn't able to go to the movie (which was screened on campus Monday night), but intrigued, I found some more information on Ursula's work at her website. I am concerned with and would be interested in your opinions on her contention that GIS/RS are linked to the sexualization and displacement of women on a global scale. This extends our discussion in last week's group meeting. This is a very serious topic.

Coyote Bytes: LA Times Article

Our CoyoteBytes collaborator Bob Timm at Hopland Research and Extension Center was recently featured in the LA Times talking about the website Karin and Brian built. Check it.

Scientists Fear Curbs on Access to Satellite Data

Science 14 September 2007: Vol. 317. no. 5844, p. 1481 DOI: 10.1126/science.317.5844.148

News of the Week

U.S. NATIONAL SECURITY: Scientists Fear Curbs on Access to Satellite Data

Yudhijit BhattacharjeeFor more than 3 decades, U.S. science agencies have used images taken by the nation's spy satellites to study everything from erupting volcanoes to the migration of marine mammals. Now, a new plan to expand the use of the satellites for homeland security and law enforcement has left some officials worried that science will suffer. Last month's announcement by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) that it was setting up a new National Applications Office (NAO) this fall to widen the use of spy-satellite imagery has sparked protests from civil liberties advocates. They worry that federal, state, and local authorities will seek high-resolution, real-time images to monitor activities of U.S. citizens in the same way that the satellites help track terrorist activities overseas. But officials at federal science agencies are concerned for a different reason: They suspect that the new arrangement could mean fewer chances to investigate scientific questions or cause delays that undermine the value of the information. read more...

Satellite Images Reveal Burmese Atrocities

I guess they're not just looking for lost hikers anymore..... Cheers, Josh By Yudhijit Bhattacharjee ScienceNOW Daily News 29 September 2007 The military dictatorship of Myanmar--also known as Burma--has consistently dismissed allegations of human-rights violations against ethnic minorities and other citizens. But new satellite images that show the charred remains of villages in east Myanmar and a buildup of refugees across the country's border with Thailand provide silent confirmation of those atrocities. Read more...

Overlooking the southern site

Overlooking the southern site, originally uploaded by SNAMP Photo Collector.

Another lovely view of the SNAMP site - this one in the south