LiDAR as Rock Star?

The rock band Radiohead has released a new "video" made without video. The optical portion of the "House of Cards" single was created using two laser-scanning technologies. One for close-ups of the band and another, a more traditional-feeling LiDAR, for landscapes.

The band partnered with Google for the release and has included data set downloads to allow fans to remix the spatial data themselves.

This has been making something of a splash among the geo-bloggers and music press alike. At least one geo-blogger has some screenshots of playing with the singer's head.

This may be the start of Music Video for the Nation.

(NOTE: The final sentence of this post is a gentle form of self-parody. No offense was intended; none was taken.)

NSGIC Mid-Year Reports: Airborne Imagery

Members of the NSGIC Corporate Leadership Council gave a presentation on new developments in airborne imagery and LiDAR. They focused on new technologies and how state GIS Coordinators can take advantage of those technologies. They also listed factors that should be considered in creating RFPs for new imagery.

Craig Molander, from Surdex, spoke about large-format digital cameras. These collect a wide, rectangular image and collect digital data from several sensors at once.

Bob William, from Sanborn, spoke about small-format cameras often used to collect oblique imagery, which has a variety of uses and is growing in popularity.

Dave White, from Fugro EarthData, spoke about the "push-broom" camera, which looks forward, down and back as it moves along. This can help reduce building-lean. It can also make it easier to create elevation data without LiDAR.

Jay Arnold, from 3001, spoke about LiDAR as an adjunct to, or sometimes a temporary replacement for, orthoimagery. He spoke about both topographic and bathymetric LiDAR systems.

Most of the speakers recommended now requesting 4-band imagery, as opposed to just black and white, color, or infrared imagery. This is because most sensors now collect all at once. And there was general agreement that the industry is constantly, and sometimes rapidly, changing.

Update (3/18/08): Presentation materials from this session are now available on-line.

"______________ For the Nation" Watch: Elevation

A story from the Associated Press on the Boston Globe web site focuses on cal by the NRC for an update of elevation data across the US:

The National Research Council yesterday proposed an "Elevation for the Nation" program to produce up-to-date data.

The story reports on the effort by FEMA to move from paper to digital Flood Maps, but notes that the basic elevation data behind those Flood Maps are in some cases decades out of date. And it explains, very briefly "Lidar."

Via All POINTS BLOG.