Monday 23 February 2015

Optimising Mobile Mapping System Laser Scanner Orientation

My third paper has just been published in the ISPRS's new open access journal - the International Journal of Geo-Information (IJGI). 

"ISPRS International Journal of Geo-Information (ISSN 2220-9964) is an international, open access journal on geo-information. It is a journal of the ISPRS (International Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing) and is published quarterly online by MDPI. "

It is a new journal, only around 3 or 4 years old and still finding its feet, but the ISPRS tag will help it alot.

paper link


Tuesday 17 February 2015

Notepad ++ - 'Find in Files'

Not quite as impressive as a satellite image of a storm in the Atlantic, but a great package that I keep finding out more and more about.


At first I thought Notepad ++ was just a fancy (but free!) version of notepad that I might use occasionally. I liked the colour scheme it auto-applied to code and I also liked the tabs option at the top so I could flick between files quickly. I found out about the compare text add-on package you could install and it's stock rose a couple of points. This is very useful for identifying changes from Latex word docs if you are collaborating on a paper or just trying to find out what has changed between two pieces of code. 

But someone showed me something very cool with it last night that might help you sometime. Say you have loads of word docs, csvs, txt files, xml files and there is one word you want to change in them all - say you made a mistake and "Map #3010" should be 'Map #3011'.

The 'find in files' command can do this for every file in a folder in one go.



It lets you:

1. Search and find every doc/spreadsheet etc that has that word in it
2. 'replace all' like you would do in a single word doc.

Very useful... I'm sure there is plenty more hidden in Notepad ++, I'll have to start paying more attention to it.

Disclaimer: Anyone who 'replaces all' destroying years of work or substituting a rude word throughout their document  don't blame me!

Tuesday 10 February 2015

Wind & Waves

One of the best visualisations I have come across in a long time is available here. What started out as a wind map of Japan is now a browsable globe showing wind, current and wave information anywhere on the earth (from computer models, real time in-situ measurements and some RS I think).




If there isn't any storms moving in on us to grab your attention -  have a look at the wind when

A) it hits any large mountain ranges,
B) the doldrums
C) the trade winds
D) wind at altitude

They have recently added information on waves too - "wave height" and "wave period". Fire those ones up and have a look at the rollers moving in.



Great visualisation - but not to be opened if any deadlines are looming.

Tuesday 3 February 2015

Picasso Remote Sensing

Ok, my brain is fried, so time to distract myself. 

This is a Landsat 8 Near-InfraRed image of Maynooth using the default colour ramp from the RS programme I was using. I then applied a Canny edge detector algorithm to it. It doesn't tell me an awful lot like this but I thought it looked great. I should sell it as modern art.




Google Earth Pro

GoogleEarth is a popular tool that I am sure most of you are familiar with. I can remember the first time I saw a similar software package in a RS module in 2003 (i think it was Worldwind and I think it used Landsat imagery) and I loved it - I'm a sucker for a good digital visualisation of anything or a 3D model, or a browsable globe. Back then you couldn't easily get free aerial imagery, but now GoogleEarth uses such hi-resolution imagery that you can even count the pedestrians in the streets.

The free version of GoogleEarth was missing quite a few tools (the one I always missed was the area tool) but now Google are letting people download and use the Pro version for free. If you fancy making your own 3D building models now's your chance.

Grab it here.

Two hints for GE - 'R' resets tilt and zoom, a handy quick key to remember, and if you hate tilt and zoom like I do, it can be turned off in the options!

About Me

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My name is Conor. I am a Lecturer at the Department of Geography at Maynooth University. These few lines will (hopefully) chart my progress through academia and the world of research.