The beautiful days in early November 2014 allowed to get some nice views of the Trentino (Northern Italy) – thanks to Landsat 8 and NASA’s open data policy:
Landsat 8: Northern Italy 1 Nov 2014
Trento captured by Landsat8
Landsat 8: San Michele – 1 Nov 2014
The beauty of the landscape but also the human impact (landscape and condensation trails of airplanes) are clearly visible.
All data were processed in GRASS GIS 7 and pansharpened with i.fusion.hpf written by Nikos Alexandris.
In the new release of QGIS 2.6.0 a series of new features have been added concerning
A visual changelog is available for more details with lots of screenshots.
Congratulations to all QGIS developers! Looking forward to see the Fedora RPM available…
You can download QGIS 2.6 at https://qgis.org/en/site/forusers/download.html
Do you also sometimes get maps which contain zero (0) rather than NULL (no data) in some parts of the map? This can be easily solved with “floodfilling”, even in a GIS.
My original map looks like this (here, Trentino elevation model):
Now what? In a paint software we would simply use bucket fill but what about GIS data? Well, we can do something similar using “clumping”. It requires a bit of computational time but works perfectly, even for large DEMs, e.g., all Italy at 20m resolution. Using the open source software GRASS GIS 7, we can compute all “clumps” (that are many for a floating point DEM!):
# first we set the computational region to the raster map: g.region rast=pat_DTM_2008_derived_2m -p r.clump pat_DTM_2008_derived_2m out=pat_DTM_2008_derived_2m_clump
The resulting clump map produced by r.clump is nicely colorized:
As we can see, the area of interest (province) is now surrounded by three clumps. With a simple map algebra statement (r.mapcalc or GUI calculator) we can create a MASK by assigning these outer boundary clumps to NULL and the other “good” clumps to 1:
r.mapcalc "no_data_mask = if(pat_DTM_2008_derived_2m_clump == 264485050 || \ pat_DTM_2008_derived_2m_clump == 197926480 || \ pat_DTM_2008_derived_2m_clump == 3, null(), 1)"
This mask map looks like this:
We now activate this MASK and generate a copy of the original map into a new map name by using map algebra again (this just keeps the data matched by the MASK). Eventually we remove the MASK and verify the result:
# apply the mask r.mask no_data_mask # generate a copy of the DEM, filter on the fly r.mapcalc "pat_DTM_2008_derived_2m_fixed = pat_DTM_2008_derived_2m" # assign a nice color table r.colors pat_DTM_2008_derived_2m_fixed color=srtmplus # remove the MASK r.mask -r
And the final DEM is now properly cleaned up in terms of NULL values (no data):
Enjoy.
The new version 1.11.0 of GDAL/OGR https://gdal.org/ which offers major new features has been released. GDAL/OGR is a C++ geospatial data access library for raster and vector file formats, databases and web services. It includes bindings for several languages, and a variety of command line tools.
Highlights:
More complete information on the new features and fixes in the 1.11.0 release can be found at https://trac.osgeo.org/gdal/wiki/Release/1.11.0-News
The new release can be downloaded from:
Drowning in too many maps? Have some fun exploring fascinating geometries of changing landscapes in Space Time Cube and creating 2D and 3D animations from time series of geospatial data. Learn about the new capabilities for spatio-temporal data handling in GRASS GIS 7 (https://grass.osgeo.org/grass7/) and explore various techniques for dynamic visualizations.
First, we will introduce you to GRASS GIS 7, including its spatio-temporal capabilities and you will learn how to manage and analyze geospatial data time series. Then, we will explore new tools for visualization of spatio-temporal data. You will create both 2D and 3D dynamic visualizations directly in GRASS GIS 7. Additionally, we will explain the Space Time Cube concept using various applications based on raster and vector data time series. You will learn to manage and visualize data in space time cubes (voxel models). No prior knowledge of GRASS GIS is necessary, we will cover the basics needed for the workshop. All relevant material including an overview of the tools and hands-on practical instructions along with the sample data sets will be available on-line. And, by the way, GRASS GIS is a free and open source geographic information system (GIS) used for geospatial data management, analysis, modeling, image processing, and visualization which runs on Linux, MS Windows, Mac OS X and other systems.
Presenters: Vaclav Petras, Anna Petrasova, Helena Mitasova, Markus Neteler
When: FOSS4G 2014, Sept 8th-13th 2014, Portland, OR, USA
Register at: https://2014.foss4g.org/schedule/workshops/#wshop-526
OSGeo today announced that the OSGeo-Live GIS software collection version 7.9 has been released, featuring more than fifty open source, standards compliant geospatial desktop applications, web applications and frameworks.
Release Highlights:
This release is a modernization update to last year’s 7.0 release including new versions of the software but preserving much of the core build and operating system. In addition we’ve added a number of small fixes and updated document translations.
OSGeo-Live Lightning Presentation:
The OSGeo-Live Lightning Presentation which explains the breadth of OSGeo software is now bundled with OSGeo-Live. It is often presented by conference organisors, or keynote speakers. The presentation may be given as is, or modified to align with time constraints, presenter’s interest, or conference focus. https://live.osgeo.org/livedvd/
Applications:
Twenty two geospatial programs have been updated to newer versions. The core geospatial stack has also been upgraded from UbuntuGIS, and the base operating system has been updated to Xubuntu 12.04.4 LTS, including all the latest security and bug fixes, and web browser updates.
About OSGeo-Live:
OSGeo-Live is a self-contained bootable DVD, USB flash drive and Virtual Machine based upon Ubuntu Linux. OSGeo-Live is pre-configured with a wide variety of robust open source geospatial software. All applications can be trialled without installing anything on your computer, simply by booting the computer from a DVD or USB drive, or running in a Virtual Machine environment. Each featured package is accompanied by both a publication quality one page descriptive summary and a short tutorial on how to get started using it. https://live.osgeo.org
OSGeo-Live includes:
Credits
Over 180 people have directly helped with OSGeo-Live packaging, documenting and translating, and thousands have been involved in building the packaged software. Developers, packagers, documenters and translators include:
Activity Workshop, Agustín Díez, Aikaterini Kapsampeli, Alan Beccati, Alan Boudreault, Alessandro Furieri, Alexander Bruy, Alexander Kleshnin, Alexander Muriy, Alexandre Dube, Alexey Ardyakov, Alex Mandel, Amy Gao, Andrea Antonello, Andrea Yanza, Andrey Syrokomskiy, Andry Rustanto, Angelos Tzotsos, Anna Muñoz, Antonio Falciano, Anton Novichikhin, Anton Patrushev, Argyros Argyridis, Ariel Núñez, Assumpció Termens, Astrid Emde, Barry Rowlingson, Benjamin Pross, Brian Hamlin, Bruno Binet, Bu Kun, Cameron Shorter, Christophe Tufféry, Christos Iossifidis, Cristhian Pin, Damian Wojs?aw, Dane Springmeyer, Daniel Kastl, Daria Svidzinska, David Mateos, Denis Rykov, Diego González, Diego Migliavacca, Dimitar Misev, Dmitry Baryshnikov, Dominik Helle, Edgar Soldin, Eike Hinderk Jürrens, Elena Mezzini, Eric Lemoine, Erika Pillu, Estela Llorente, Etienne Delay, Etienne Dube, Evgeny Nikulin, Fran Boon, François Prunayre, Frank Gasdorf, Frank Warmerdam, Friedjoff Trautwein, Gavin Treadgold, Giuseppe Calamita, Grald Fenoy, Grigory Rozhentsov, Guy Griffiths, Hamish Bowman, Haruyuki Seki, Henry Addo, Hernan Olivera, Howard Butler, Hyeyeong Choe, Ian Edwards, Ian Turton, Ilya Filippov, Jackie Ng, Jan Drewnak, Jane Lewis, Javier Rodrigo, Javier Sánchez, Jesús Gómez, Jim Klassen, Jing Wang, Jinsongdi Yu, Jody Garnett, Johan Van de Wauw, John Bryant, Jorge Arévalo, Jorge Sanz, José Antonio Canalejo, José Vicente Higón, Judit Mays, Klokan Petr Pridal, Kristof Lange, kuzkok, Lance McKee, Lars Lingner, Luca Delucchi, Lucía Sanjaime, Mage Whopper, Manuel Grizonnet, Marc-André Barbeau, Marco Curreli, Marco Puppin, Marc Torres, Margherita Di Leo, Maria Vakalopoulou, Mario Andino, Mark Leslie, Massimo Di Stefano, Matthias Streulens, Mauricio Miranda, Mauricio Pazos, Maxim Dubinin, Michaël Michaud, Michael Owonibi, Micha Silver, Mike Adair, Milena Nowotarska, M Iqnaul Haq Siregar, Nacho Varela, Nadiia Gorash, Nathaniel V. Kelso, Ned Horning, Nobusuke Iwasaki, Oliver Tonnhofer, Òscar Fonts, Otto Dassau, Pasquale Di Donato, Patric Hafner, Paul Meems, Pavel, Pedro-Juan Ferrer, Pirmin Kalberer, Raf Roset, Regina Obe, Ricardo Pinho, Roald de Wit, Roberta Fagandini, Roberto Antolin, Roberto Antolín, Roger Veciana, Ruth Schoenbuchner, Samuel Mesa, Scott Penrose, Sergey Grachev, Sergio Baños, Simon Cropper, Simon Pigot, Stefan A. Tzeggai, Stefan Hansen, Stefan Steiniger, Stephan Meissl, Steve Lime, Takayuki Nuimura, Thierry Badard, Thomas Baschetti, Thomas Gratier, Tom Kralidis, Toshikazu Seto, Trevor Wekel, Valenty González, Vera, Xianfeng Song, Yoichi Kayama, Zhengfan Lin
Sponsoring organisations
Watch how the community based GRASS GIS 6.4 software development evolved! You can see how the individual contributors modify and expand the source code – click screenshot for Youtube video:
The corresponding timeline is also available at
https://grass.osgeo.org/home/history/releases/
THANKS TO ALL CONTRIBUTORS!
https://grass.osgeo.org/development/
Rendering: Markus Neteler
Audio track editing: Duccio Rocchini & Antonio Galea
Music:
Le bruit peut rendre sourd – Track 6/18 Album “Sensation electronique” by Saelynh (CC-BY-NC-ND) https://www.jamendo.com/en/track/1236/le-bruit-peut-rendre-sourd
Software used:
Gource software: https://code.google.com/p/gource/ (GPL)
OpenShot video editor: https://www.openshotvideo.com/ (GPL
We are pleased to announce that the 50th ICA-OSGeo Lab has been established at the GIS and Remote Sensing Unit (Piattaforma GIS & Remote Sensing, PGIS), Research and Innovation Centre (CRI), Fondazione Edmund Mach (FEM), Italy. CRI is a multifaceted research organization established in 2008 under the umbrella of FEM, a private research foundation funded by the government of Autonomous Province of Trento. CRI focuses on studies and innovations in the fields of agriculture, nutrition, and environment, with the aim to generate new sharing knowledge and to contribute to economic growth, social development and the overall improvement of quality of life. 
The mission of the PGIS unit is to develop and provide multi-scale approaches for the description of 2-, 3- and 4-dimensional biological systems and processes. Core activities of the unit include acquisition, processing and validation of geo-physical, ecological and spatial datasets collected within various research projects and monitoring activities, along with advanced scientific analysis and data management. These studies involve multi-decadal change analysis of various ecological and physical parameters from continental to landscape level using satellite imagery and other climatic layers. The lab focuses on the geostatistical analysis of such information layers, the creation and processing of indicators, and the production of ecological, landscape genetics, eco-epidemiological and physiological models. The team pursues actively the development of innovative methods and their implementation in a GIS framework including the time series analysis of proximal and remote sensing data.
The GIS and Remote Sensing Unit (PGIS) members strongly support the peer reviewed approach of Free and Open Source software development which is perfectly in line with academic research. PGIS contributes extensively to the open source software development in geospatial (main contributors to GRASS GIS), often collaborating with various other developers and researchers around the globe. In the new ICA-OSGeo lab at FEM international PhD students, university students and trainees are present.
PGIS is focused on knowledge dissemination of open source tools through a series of courses designed for specific user requirement (schools, universities, research institutes), blogs, workshops and conferences. Their recent publication in Trends in Ecology and Evolution underlines the need on using Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) for completely open science. Dr. Markus Neteler, who is leading the group since its formation, has two decades of experience in developing and promoting open source GIS software. Being founding member of the Open Source Geospatial Foundation (OSGeo.org, USA), he served on its board of directors from 2006-2011. Luca Delucchi, focal point and responsible person for the new ICA-OSGeo Lab is member of the board of directors of the Associazione Italiana per l’Informazione Geografica Libera (GFOSS.it, the Italian Local Chapter of OSGeo). He contributes to several Free and Open Source software and open data projects as developer and trainer.
Details about the GIS and Remote Sensing Unit at https://gis.cri.fmach.it/
Open Source Geospatial Foundation (OSGeo) is a not-for-profit organisation founded in 2006 whose mission is to support and promote the collaborative development of open source geospatial technologies and data.
International Cartographic Association (ICA) is the world authoritative body for cartography and GIScience. See also the new ICA-OSGeo Labs website.
(reposting from here, Note to English speakers below)
Sie forschen, Sie entwickeln, Sie beschäftigen sich mit Open-Source-Geo-Software oder freien Geodaten? Sie haben neue Ideen in diesem Themenbereich oder sind bereits dabei, freie Software und freie Geodaten zu nutzen oder zu entwickeln? Dann sind Sie auf unserer Konferenz – der FOSSGIS-Konferenz 2014 – genau richtig.
WIR BIETEN: Eine Plattform für Ihre Idee, Ihr Projekt, Ihren Erfahrungsbericht auf der größten deutschsprachigen Anwenderkonferenz für freie Geoinformationssysteme und freie Geodaten. Im Jahr 2014 findet die FOSSGIS vom 19. bis 21. März auf dem Gelände der Beuth Hochschule für Technik in Berlin statt. Wir rechnen mit über 400 Teilnehmern. An der Konferenz 2013 in Rapperswil (Schweiz) nahmen über ca. 350 Besucher teil.
WIR SUCHEN: Ihre Idee. Ihr Projekt. Ihren Erfahrungsbericht. Ihr Thema. Genauer gesagt, suchen wir Vorträge für Einsteiger und Fortgeschrittene, um spannende Themen zu behandeln, Diskussionen zu entwickeln, praxisorientierte Workshops* runden unser Programm ab. Vorträge zum Thema freie Geodaten, zum Beispiel OpenStreetMap, Open Data sind ebenso möglich wie Beiträge zu beispielsweise Softwarelösungen aus dem Bereich WebGIS, Desktop GIS, Geodatenbanken oder Location-Based-Services. Bewerben Sie sich jetzt mit einem Vortrag, Lightning Talk oder Workshop* beim Call for Papers.
ABSTRACT: Die Einreichung eines Abstracts für die FOSSGIS 2014 ist ab sofort bis zum 15. November 2013 über unsere Konferenzsoftware Pentabarf möglich. Beitrags-Einreichungen ohne Abstract müssen leider abgelehnt werden, da sich das Programm-Komitee anhand des Abstracts ein Bild von Inhalt und Relevanz des Beitrags macht. Der Abstract sollte ca. 1500 Zeichen umfassen. Ob die Einreichung angenommen wurde, wird im Dezember 2013 bekanntgegeben. Es besteht die Möglichkeit einen Lightning Talk einzureichen. Ein Lightning Talk ist eine kurze, knackige Auseinandersetzung mit einem Thema, welches in 5 Minuten, gern humorvoll, Anregung zur Diskussion bietet. Weiterhin können Poster eingereicht werden.
*Workshops: Bitte berücksichtigen Sie bei der Planung, dass für die Workshops nur 90 Minuten vorgesehen sind und die Teilnehmer ein Mix aus Theorie und vor allem Praxis erwarten. Die Beschreibung des Workshops soll erreichbare Lernziele und die notwendigen Vorkenntnisse der Teilnehmer enthalten. Ein Workshop findet ab einer Teilnehmerzahl von 5 statt.
WER WIR SIND: Veranstaltet wird die Konferenz vom FOSSGIS e.V., von der OSGeo Foundation und der Beuth Hochschule für Technik Berlin.
Unsere Konferenz lebt von Ihren Beiträgen und Ihrem Besuch. Werden Sie Teil der Konferenz – wir freuen uns auf Sie!
Noch Fragen? Wir haben versucht, in unseren FAQs alle wichtigen Fragen zu beantworten. Falls weitere Fragen bestehen, zögern Sie nicht uns eine E-Mail zu schreiben.
Note to English speakers
The FOSSGIS-conference is the largest German-language conference for Free and Open Source Software for GIS and Free Geodata hosting about 400 participants.
Today, the Conference Committee announced the “Call for papers” for 2014. Because the conference-language is German, the CfP is either.
The program committee will, however, also consider applications for talks or workshops held in English if they are deeemed to add to the quality of the conference. So if you don’t speak German, but are a FOSS/Open Data celebrity, or have a story that only you can tell, please do submit your talk. We are unlikely to be able to provide interpreters, but we’ll make sure you don’t get lost in Berlin. Please be aware that you can submit paper until November, 15. 2013. You can submit your abstract using our Conference Software.
We are looking forward to see you in Berlin March 19-21, 2014!
The Open Source Geospatial Foundation (OSGeo) is pleased to announce that the U.S. Internal 
Revenue Service (IRS) has accepted their application (PDF) for non-profit status under section 501(c)(4) of the tax code. Our 501(c)(4) status declares that OSGeo is a Social Welfare Organization. This determination affirms OSGeo’s role in serving the public through their mission, focused around Open Source Geospatial software.
This determination helps ensure that the organization will not have to pay US federal taxes on money accumulated toward the fulfilment of their mission. Unfortunately, unlike a 501(c)(3) (Charitable) status, this does not allow financial contributors to OSGeo to treat the contributions as a charitable contribution which can have a tax benefit for US tax payers. There should still be no problem with commercial organizations treating contributions to OSGeo as a business expense.
OSGeo owes a special debt to past Executive Director Tyler Mitchell, and current Treasurer Daniel Morissette who have carried this process to a successful conclusion after several years of work. Current OSGeo President, Jeff McKenna, says “Both Daniel and Tyler should be thanked by the entire community for their dedication to such a challenging task. Our future foundation events, and OSGeo in general, will benefit from their hard work for years to come.”
The Open Source Geospatial Foundation, or OSGeo, is a not-for-profit organization founded in 2006 whose mission is to support and promote the collaborative development of open geospatial technologies and data. The Foundation provides financial, organizational and legal support to the broader open source geospatial community. It also serves as an independent legal entity to which community members can contribute code, funding and other resources, secure in the knowledge that their contributions will be maintained for public benefit.
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