The 3D Elevation Program (3DEP) is a national program to help generate new high resolution elevation data to serve multiple applications.  For the past several years, 3DEP has issued an annual Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) to solicit interest in partnerships to generate new lidar for public use and benefit.

This is a reminder that 3DEP is currently accepting proposals to request funding assistance for lidar elevation data.  The FY17/18 BAA was released in August and provides details on how to apply for federal funds to assist state and local governments, Federal agencies, tribes, academic institutions, and the private sector.

Proposals submitted no later than the deadline of Friday, October 20, 2017 will receive first review and award of funds if selected.  Although the BAA is open for the entire fiscal year and proposals are welcome anytime, groups applying by the initial deadline above will receive first consideration for funds.

Information on 3DEP and the BAA can be found here: https://nationalmap.gov/
3DEP FY17/18 BAA information sharing page: https://cms.geoplatform.gov/elevation/3DEP
Reference material for the BAA can be found here: https://nationalmap.gov/3DEP/BAAReferenceMaterials.html

Should you have any questions at all on the 3DEP program, please contact us.  Questions on the BAA submission process or about the BAA in general may be sent to 3DEP at this email address: gs_baa@usgs.gov.

Thanks,

Drew Decker
National Map Liaison
U.S. Geological Survey
4165 Spruance Road
San Diego, CA 92101
619-225-6430
ddecker@usgs.gov

Ah yes, welcome to the bleeding edge!  ArcGIS 10.6 is here in prerelease form.  If you have current maintenance, then you have access to the software from my.esri.com.

If you are considering installing ArcGIS Desktop 10.6, make sure the check out the Quick Start Guide, Release Notes, and What’s New for 10.6.

Make sure to read the release notes.  You will find that for ArcGIS Enterprise, upgrading to Prerelease from earlier versions is not supported.  You are required to do a new installation.

I also found in the What’s New doc that at 10.6 you can now use the PostGIS geography type to store spatial data in PostgreSQL databases and geodatabases in PostgreSQL.  Also PostgreSQL 9.3 is not supported, so upgrade to 9.4.8 or 9.5.3!

If you use ArcGIS Online, ESRI now has “Locator Views” in their geocoders.  Basically you can specify what types of locations or only within a specific country or area you want to geocode against.  For example, maybe you are just geocoding US addresses, not the whole world.  Or maybe you just need to geocode to airport 3-letter codes.  Whatever you need, you can customize your geosearching and geocoding experience.  Click below for more info.

Check out how San Diego Harbor Police integrates GIS technology, video, and radar systems to keep people safe in the Port of San Diego.

I remember sitting at my desk at work that morning in 2001 watching what was going on in New York.  The City’s cable access channel staff had their TV feeds going all day long.

I also remember how quiet it was in the sky when I got home that evening.  That day the FAA closed all airspace and grounded all flights.

It went from this (9:30am EDT):

to this (after 12pm EDT):

It was very quiet over the skies in SoCal on the 12th.  Flights resumed on the 13th and 14th in tiers.  By the 21st they were fully restored.  Watch the video here.  For more info on 9/11, click here.