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In my last column, I highlighted the announcement made by the National Geodetic Survey (NGS) of the recipients of the NOAA FY 23 Geospatial Modeling Competition Awards. As shown in the image below, NGS awarded approximately $4 million in grant funding to four institutions for projects that will research emerging problems in the field of geodesy, develop tools and models to advance the modernization of the National Spatial Reference System (NSRS), and help address a nationwide deficiency of geodesists.

I had the opportunity to speak with Juliana Blackwell, director of the NGS, about the geospatial awards. I asked her how the grants will help NGS in its development of products and services as well as the implementation of the modernized NSRS.

“The geospatial modeling grant is an opportunity to expand our abilities within NGS to address research challenges, diversify the tools we provide, and multiply our future workforce,” Blackwell said. “I’m excited about the competitive and collaborative nature of the grant and the chance for NGS to work with a variety of academic institutions.”

NGS awarded the grant funding to four institutions including Oregon State University, Scripps Institute of Oceanography, Michigan State University, and the Ohio State University. Looking at the summary of the awards, there appears to be some overlapping interest between grantees that could lead to a diverse set of solutions to a problem or task. I will report on specific tasks and outcomes as more details become available.

I was pleased to see that grant proposals included developing new geodetic tools and operating procedures for working with the new, modernized NSRS. Hopefully, these universities will engage the geospatial user community when developing new tools so the tools will be useful during the implementation of the new NSRS.

Besides providing funds for the geospatial grants, NGS is collaborating with other federal agencies to address the geodesy crisis. This collaboration, denoted as the “Geodesy Community of Practice (COP),” includes four agencies — NGS, National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA), National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), and United States Geological Survey (USGS). The co-chairs of the group discussed the group’s actions and goals at the Hydrographic Services Review Panel (HSRP) fall committee meeting held in Silver Spring, Maryland, on Sept. 27-29.

The HSRP involves four NOAA offices: three National Ocean Service (NOS) program offices -NGS, the Center for Operational Oceanographic Products and Services (CO-OPS), the Office of Coast Survey (CS), and the University of New Hampshire’s Joint Hydrographic Center and Center for Coastal and Ocean Mapping. More information and the presentations from the HSRP meeting can be obtained here. The purpose of the committee is to review and provide NOAA with independent advice on their products and services.

I attended the three-day HRSP meeting as a virtual participant. As previously noted, NGS is one of the NOS offices that’s part of the HSRP. As the Director of NGS, Blackwell participated in the 2023 fall HSRP meeting. A majority of the meeting discussed the geodesy crisis. In my opinion, this is due to Blackwell’s efforts to highlight the importance of geodesy to NOAA products and services.   

The presentation by the co-chairs of the Geodesy Community of Practice highlighted a few articles that have brought the geodesy crisis to the attention of the geospatial user community. Anyone keeping up with my columns knows that I have been highlighting the geodesy crisis and programs that advance the science of geodesy (July 2020, November 2022, December 2022, and April 2023). The geodesy crisis white paper is posted on the American Association for Geodetic Surveying (AAGS) website. 

The Geodesy COP established working groups to address topics that are important to all geospatial users. All the agencies are supporting the working groups which should help create more effective and efficient solutions to technical geodetic issues.

A goal of the Geodetic Community of Practice is to train future geodesists. The advancements in satellites and computers have enabled geodesy to expand into many different disciplines.  Geodetic science and technology now underpin many sciences, large areas of engineering (such as driverless vehicles and UAVs), navigation, precision agriculture, smart cities, and location-based services. Major U.S. companies, such as Google and FedEx, as well as the automobile industry, precision farming companies and mining companies also need more accurate geodetic models, tools, and algorithms. Therefore, these companies also need trained geodesists to perform important research on topics that address their specific geodetic requirements. I highlighted this in my July 20, 2020, GPS World First Fix article. To address the geodesy tradecraft, the COP includes providing professional government assignments. That said, many industries that rely on accurate and consistent geodetic information should also provide professional geodetic assignments.   

I asked Blackwell how she thought the U.S. government’s Geodesy Community of Practice will help NGS and the geodesy crisis.

“The Geodesy Community of Practice is in the beginning phase right now with the collaboration among federal agencies with geodetic missions, NOAA/NGS, NGA, NASA, and USGS,” Blackwell said. “There is already a benefit in sharing research, workforce, and operational needs and leveraging our resources. I envision expanded engagement with academia, private industry, and other government agencies as the community of practice matures.”

In my opinion, the Geodesy Community of Practice’s integrated working groups consisting of individuals with different backgrounds and skills addressing geospatial problems will help to advance the field of geodesy. I believe that integrated and collaborative organizations create the best geospatial solutions; the Geodesy COP is an embodiment of this concept.

Of course, as I have stated in many of my columns, I like to remind everyone that “geodesy is the foundation for all geospatial products and services.”

“Seen & Heard” is a monthly feature of GPS World magazine, traveling the world to capture interesting and unusual news stories involving the GNSS/PNT industry.

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Tracking a songbird

Researchers in Alaska tracked the migration patterns of olive-sided flycatcher birds by attaching tracking devices to them to discover why their population is declining. The songbirds travel more than 15,000 miles every year to South America and then back to Alaska. To survive the long trips, they require safe locations to rest during their journeys. The researchers believe the stopover sites may provide an answer to the declining population. During the five-year study, the researchers deployed 95 devices and recovered only 17. The data pointed to 13 stopover sites between Washington and Peru as well as their wintering areas in South America.

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Crime ring members caught

Members of an organized crime ring in the Florida Keys who are accused of stealing more than $2.5 million in boating navigation devices have been arrested, reported Local 10.com and Fox 4. Eleven men have been accused of targeting multiple marinas throughout Florida and stealing navigation devices from boats, specifically Garmin devices. For example, a Garmin 8612 H16 Model can be sold for more than $5,000. Ten suspects are in custody and are facing more than 122 charges.

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Animals take advantage of COVID-19

A new study published in Science used tracking devices on 43 animal species during the 2020 COVID-19 lockdowns to find that wild animals emerged from their natural habitats and ventured closer to the roads and cities that were empty. The study used several methods to analyze tracking data. Researchers examined how much animals moved on an hourly basis and during a 10-day period. Across species and countries, on average, hour-to-hour movement was 12% lower in the spring of 2020 compared to the same period in 2019. With the end of lockdowns, human activity returned to normal, and animals had to adapt again. The results of the study demonstrate how humans can change their own behavior to lessen their impact on animals.

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Navigation meets creativity

A man from Bengaluru, India, Vikas Ruparelia, used the Strava navigation app to trace the country of India to celebrate its Independence Day. Ruparelia started and ended his journey at the Mahatma Gandhi statue near Orion Mall in Rajajinagar, India. He covered more than 73 km on foot in 17 hours. The Strava app enables users to track their running and hiking routes as well as join challenges. The route Ruparelia took was designed by another user of the app.

DroneShield has launched  SensorFusionAI (SFAI), a sensor-agnostic, 3D data fusion engine for complex environments.

In a recent release, Angus Bean, DroneShield’s chief technology officer (CTO), emphasized the shift towards a multi-sensor approach for detecting UAVs. He noted this approach is effective for fixed-site, and in some cases, vehicle and ship systems where budgets and space allow.

Bean added that the success of the multi-sensor approach hinges on the presence of an intelligent software engine to fuse the sensor outputs into meaningful data. He said without this crucial component, adding more sensors can lead to information overload without clear management.

In response, DroneShield designed an AI-based sensor fusion engine, initially integrated into its DroneSentry-C2 command-and-control system. This engine accommodates all common UAV detection modalities, including radiofrequency, radar, acoustics and cameras.

SFAI allows third-party C2 manufacturers to integrate SFAI into its C2 systems. This integration can be achieved through a subscription-based software-as-a-service (SaaS) model, enhancing system performance.

Key features of SFAI include behavior analysis to track an object to determine classification and predict trajectory; Threat Assessment that determines threat level based on a range of data types; and an edge processing device called SmartHub for reduced network load and high scalability.

CHC Navigation (CHCNAV) has released the i89, a compact IMU-RTK GNSS receiver with visual surveying and 3D modeling capabilities. In addition to GNSS surveying, the i89 offers augmented reality surveying to capture accurate 3D coordinates where signals are obstructed or access is limited.

The i89 combines CHCNAV’s iStar2.0 software and a 1408 channel GNSS system-on-a-chip (SoC) module for full constellation tracking. According to the company, its advanced algorithms improve data quality by 20%, offering RTK accuracy and reliability even in low latitude regions with high ionospheric interference.

Based on video photogrammetry, the i89 dynamically extracts accurate 3D coordinates from real-world video. Coupled with its IMU, it is designed to improve photogrammetry efficiency and accuracy. It complements UAV surveys by resolving typical distortions from UAV-mounted cameras.

The i89 offers 16.5 hours of battery life, weighing only 750g and is IP68-rated to withstand a 2m pole drop. Its visual navigation and staking capabilities aim to simplify field operations and ensure optimal productivity for surveyors in a wide range of everyday surveying tasks.

Skydio has released its X10 UAV, which features a customized Teledyne FLIR Boson+ thermal camera module. As a result of the collaboration, professional public safety and critical infrastructure inspection pilots can now easily access uncooled thermal imaging technology.

The Thermal by FLIR program is a cooperative product development and marketing program. It supports original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), such as Skydio, to integrate Teledyne FLIR thermal camera modules into products.

The Skydio X10 includes a thermal imaging payload using a customized radiometric Boson+ thermal camera module, providing thermal performance and improvements in size, weight, and power (SWaP) that are critical for inspections, situational awareness and search-and-rescue missions.

Thermal performance and SWaP enhancements

The Boson+ provides four times the thermal resolution at 640 x 512 pixels versus the predecessor thermal camera on the Skydio X2. It also doubles the thermal sensitivity of competitive payloads at 30 millikelvin (mK) or more.

Its increased sensitivity and resolution provide users with sharper scene detail, which improves detection, specifically in outdoor, low-contrast scenes — a critical need for thermal inspectors and first responders, including law enforcement officers, firefighters and search-and-rescue personnel.

Teledyne FLIR worked closely with Skydio to develop custom optics to reduce the weight of a standard Boson+ camera optics by 48%, according to the company. The weight reduction aims to help maximize flight time while decreasing the volume of the thermal camera module for an improved payload form factor.

The Skydio X10 has customized thermal image signal processing that leverages Teledyne FLIR’s Prism ISP, further improving imaging quality. The resulting thermal imagery is available as radiometric JPEGs (R-JPEG), meaning each image captured includes temperature data of every pixel in the scene for granular, quantitative insights needed for solar panel, machinery and utility inspection.

That R-JPEG data captured from the X10 can then be combined with the R-JPEG data captured from handheld Teledyne FLIR thermal imaging cameras to create comprehensive inspection reports from the air to the ground.

Skydio X10 users can also use FLIR Thermal Studio software with advanced thermal imaging processing and analysis for creating custom, sharable PDF reports.

ComNav Technology has released the Z30, a portable high precision GNSS receiver. This device combines a host of advanced features into a compact, versatile design that makes it suitable for a wide range of industries such as personnel positioning, internet of things (IoT), railway patrols, vehicle tracking, and search and rescue missions.

Equipped with the SinoGNSS K8 platform, the Z30 can track full constellations and multiple frequencies, providing centimeter-level accuracy. With 965 channels, it is capable of tracking more than 60 satellites of GPS, BeiDou, GLONASS, Galileo, QZSS, IRNSS and SBAS.

The Z30 features an integrated antenna for stable signal reception. The device is also equipped with two side buttons for power and one-click SOS alerts and three Indicator LEDs for power, satellite, and differential status checks.

It supports NTRIP and TCP protocols, enabling various personnel positioning applications by uploading position data. The Z30 integrates with NaviCloud, offering functions such as real time location display, historical trajectory query, remote control and electric fence. In addition, it can be customized to meet specific customer requirements.

With indoor and outdoor positioning capabilities, the Z30 is a suitable solution for various fields. It supports outdoor real-time kinematic positioning with centimeter-level accuracy and indoor Bluetooth positioning with sub-meter-level accuracy.

About the Author: Matteo Luccio

Matteo Luccio, GPS World’s Editor-in-Chief, possesses more than 20 years of experience as a writer and editor for GNSS and geospatial technology magazines. He began his career in the industry in 2000, serving as managing editor of GPS World and Galileo’s World, then as editor of Earth Observation Magazine and GIS Monitor. His technical articles have been published in more than 20 professional magazines, including Professional Surveyor Magazine, Apogeo Spatial and xyHt. Luccio holds a master’s degree in political science from MIT. He can be reached at mluccio@northcoastmedia.net or 541-543-0525.

About the Author: Matteo Luccio

Matteo Luccio, GPS World’s Editor-in-Chief, possesses more than 20 years of experience as a writer and editor for GNSS and geospatial technology magazines. He began his career in the industry in 2000, serving as managing editor of GPS World and Galileo’s World, then as editor of Earth Observation Magazine and GIS Monitor. His technical articles have been published in more than 20 professional magazines, including Professional Surveyor Magazine, Apogeo Spatial and xyHt. Luccio holds a master’s degree in political science from MIT. He can be reached at mluccio@northcoastmedia.net or 541-543-0525.

Fifty years since it was designed and approved by the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD), the GPS is at risk of losing its status as the world’s gold-standard location service, reported The Wall Street Journal.

In a recent paper published by Harvard’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, “China’s BeiDou: New Dimensions of Great Power Competition,” Sarah Sewall, executive vice president for strategic issues at IQT and co-authors Tyler Vandenburg and Kaj Malden outline their finding that China’s version of GPS is part of the country’s longstanding effort to join the technological ranks of leading nations and use its capabilities to achieve geopolitical advantage across the globe.

Sewall’s assessment of BeiDou’s technical superiority received some unexpected support from a government advisory board on GPS, which stated that “GPS’s capabilities are now substantially inferior to those of China’s BeiDou,” and urged the administration to regain U.S. leadership in the field.

The BeiDou constellation is newer and has more satellites than any other system and has more than ten times as many monitoring stations around the world than GPS does. As a result, BeiDou’s accuracy is much better in many places, including the developing world.

Sewall points out that in cases where BeiDou provides the most accurate positioning, navigation, and timing (PNT) data, particularly in the global south, China may be able to influence other nations’ economies, stating that it is one example of “a new form of great power competition that most in the U.S. government don’t recognize.” China is providing superior PNT information to enhance its diplomatic, economic and military power and the United States cannot afford to cede this area of longstanding advantage.

BeiDou being newer and more advanced than other GNSS, makes it easier for China to encourage other nations to use its signals and purchase specialized equipment, especially when equipment purchases are heavily subsidized by the Chinese government, harming the U.S. economy and its status as the leader of GNSS technology.

Recent launch and surveillance fears

On May 16, 2023, China launched its most recent BeiDou satellite to replenish the constellation, bringing its total to 56 satellites, nearly twice as many as the 31 GPS satellites.

The latest BeiDou satellites also feature two-way messaging, a feature that GPS does not have. It is mainly available in China and requires special chips that are not widely available in the consumer market. It enables users to send short messages in areas without ground network cell coverage and can be used for search and rescue operations.

The CNBC report noted the fear that, with its most recent enhancements, the BeiDou system could be used as a surveillance device — as the two-way messaging feature reveals a user’s locations as well as other types of data.

Additionally, with the growing number of applications for cellphones and an increase in autonomous vehicles that use the BeiDou system, more and more user data is being transmitted.

The U.S. military is upgrading GPS with more-modern satellites that are designed to give nonmilitary devices more-precise coordinates in more indoor and hard-to-reach spaces. However, the next-generation GPS service for civilians is not expected to be released for several years.

GPS pioneered the PNT industry by offering civilians a new, free-to-use system. While originally developed for DOD, it turned into a critical global infrastructure that underlies a vast swath of the U.S. economy.

Besides GPS and BeiDou, there are two other global navigation satellite systems (GNSS), Russia’s Glonass and the European Union’s Galileo, as well as regional systems from Japan (QZSS) and India (NavIc).

BeiDou, once a small regional network with clunky receivers and few civilian users, has grown significantly since launching its first two satellites in 2000. It now has more than 30 precision-enhancing monitoring stations and claims to pinpoint users’ locations to within several centimeters, along with offering basic two-way communication capabilities.

Both BeiDou and GPS offer a variety of nonmilitary benefits that expand beyond the systems’ original expectations, from Uber drivers who often rely on a smartphones GNSS data to locate customers to farmers who can use GPS-based applications for farm planning, field mapping, solid sampling and more. GPS has been called “the silent utility” because signals are used in almost every technology, said Dana Goward, president of the Resilient Navigation and Timing Foundation.

Looking forward 

GPS guides U.S. missiles, ships and troops through more-secure military frequencies kept separate from its civilian signals. Its past dominance even made rival militaries reliant on the Pentagon-controlled system.

The U.S. military has long planned to upgrade GPS with a fleet of modernized and upgradable satellites that provide more-precise coordinates subject to less interference. The newer satellites broadcast data to civilian users over a new frequency called L5.

The Space Force has 17 L5-equipped satellites in orbit after a series of delays  but has yet to reach the 24 live satellites needed to run a reliable system. Some already-built satellites sit in a Colorado warehouse awaiting their turn for a funded launch.

The Space Force said in a statement that GPS continues to set the gold standard in its field.

“While other nations may report improvements in accuracy and equivalent performance in availability, GPS is still the clear leader in integrity and is the only system accepted for international flight use,” a spokeswoman for the branch’s Space Systems Command told The Wall Street Journal.

Skydio has released the Skydio Remote Flight Deck,  a new feature that allows remote control of Skydio X10 UAVs through a web browser over cellular networks. The remote flight deck offers an easy transition of flight control between local and remote pilots to continuous situational awareness via live streaming.

This solution allows operators to command UAVs from either indoors or outdoors, which can benefit public safety, utilities, construction, and transportation sectors.

When rapid response is crucial — such as in law enforcement activities, search and rescue operations or firefighting — UAVs can offer faster, more effective reactions. They can expedite infrastructure assessments, assist in determining recovery priority levels and ensure community safety.

The Skydio Remote Flight Deck allows for faster UAV deployment compared to traditional emergency response vehicles. In potentially dangerous scenarios, a ground officer can delegate flight control to a remote pilot, ensuring localized situational awareness.