Posts Tagged ‘scanning’
Laser Scanning Flyovers of NYC Will Yield Most Accurate 3-D Map
The early a.m. flyovers, conducted by a specially equipped Shrike Commander aircraft, will produce the most detailed maps the city has ever known, capturing 3-D images that detail surface terrain and structural elements in unprecedented detail. Current maps -- like the one FEMA uses to determine the city's flood plains -- were composed in the 1980s from aerial photography and surveys.
The new maps will help city planners rezone neighborhoods, determine shifts in population density, identify remaining wetlands, and even figure out which neighborhoods simply need more trees. It will also help the city determine what to do if/when rising sea levels brought on by global warming begin to threaten waterfront areas.
An operator aboard the aircraft operated the LIDAR -- light detection and ranging -- sensor as the pilot made repeated low-flying sweeps over the city at around just 3,500 feet during the second half of April. The laser surveying tech fired laser pulses from the aircraft at the topography below, measuring the time it takes the pulses to bounce back, much as sonar does with sound.
While wetland identification and population density maps will surely excite urban planning types, the solar map is hands-down the most exciting aspect of NYC's new cartographic pursuit. The aerial survey has determined the number of pitched and flat roofs across the city and will allow NYC residents and property owners to go online and see whether their buildings are good candidates for solar panels. That, in turn, could lead to increased adoption of solar tech, making the U.S.'s most densely populated burg even greener. The data is currently being crunched and should generate detailed solar and flood maps by year's end.
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Finland Launching National Pilot Program To Open and Scan All Snail Mail
Is online delivery a viable future for inconvenient old paper mail?
In the program, the volunteers will have images of all their letters viewable on a computer or phone, and then optionally physically delivered later on. The postman will still arrive twice a week to deliver the scanned letters, as well as any packages. Additionally, the postal service will filter out junk mail for the volunteers, essentially adding a spam filter to physical mail.
Itella, the state-owned company that operates Finland's postal service, has vowed that employees will not read the letters, that all sorting and opening will occur in specially secured facilities, and that employees will sign strict confidentiality agreements. 126 families and 20 businesses have already signed up for the service, which will begin on April 12th.
Itella stresses this program is only an experiment designed to discover what types of snail-mail the Finnish people feel comfortable receiving in this fashion. However, despite the small size, experimental nature, and high security of the program, some Finish citizens have already begun drawing comparisons between Itella and Communist-regime security services.
A similar service, , already operates commercially in the US, and claims to serve tens of thousands of users. Whether Itella can replicate Earth Class Mail's success remains to be seen. But given the high level of technical savvy amongst the Finnish population, as well that citizenry's more robust trust in the responsibility of their government, Itella's scanning program may very well be the future of mail.
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