Applications are now being accepted for the next Species Distribution Modeling workshop, to be held at the American Museum of Natural History’s Southwestern Research Station, Arizona, March 29 – April 2, 2010. For details see here.
EasyGeoTagger (EasyGT) is an easy-to-use open source software application for geotagging digital images that runs on Linux, OSX and Windows. Geotagging is the process of embedding geographic coordinates (i.e., latitude and longitude) and other spatial attributes into a digital image. This geographic information can be used to document, for example, the location where the photographer took the image and the direction the camera was pointing. Geotagged images can be used to identify and monitor changes in a landscape over time, which makes EasyGT a powerful tool for conservation and natural resource management initiatives. Our goal in developing EasyGT is to simplify the process of geotagging digital images and to promote photo-monitoring and the effective use of ground-based digital imagery in scientific initiatives focused on identifying and quantifying changes in the Earth’s terrestrial and marine environments.
EasyGT can be used as a stand alone application or as a plugin to QuantumGIS (QGIS), a free and open source desktop geographic information system. EasyGT is currently in the early stages of development and additional functionality will be available in subsequent releases. EasyGT is being developed on Linux. This early release only contains a windows binary and build instructions for Linux. Binaries for Linux and Mac OSX will be available sometime in the near future.
Version 0.3.0 currently includes the following capabilities,
* Preview and tagging of JPG, TIF, PNG and most raw image files (e.g., NEF, CRW )
* Manual editing of GPS EXIF data
* Coordinate selection from Google Maps (requires Internet connection)
* Coordinate selection from custom data layers when used as a QGIS plugin
* Interactive selection of coordinates from delimited text files
* Convert raw image files to JPG and copy all EXIF data
* Scriptable through a built in Python console
* Simple and flexible plugin interface for extending and adding functionality
EasyGT also comes with additional plugins that greatly extend the capabilities of QGIS. EasyGT includes a native QGIS data provider and accompanying plugin ( LoadExifDataset ) that allows a directory of geotagged images to be treated as vector ( point ) data source. Together with the Event Visualization Tool (eVis), natural resource managers, conservation practitioners and general enthusiasts have access to powerful suite of free tools for editing, mapping, and displaying digital images in a geographic context.
With EasyGT, geotagging is…just easy.
We are pleased to announce the official version 1.0 release of the Event Visualization Tool ( eVis ), a QuantimGIS plugin. eVis is a simple, user friendly, yet highly configurable QGIS plugin that will display digital images and open other documents associated by attributes to point, line and polygon data. eVis can be used with all vector data readable by QGIS and includes a database module which can be used to extract data from spatial and non-spatial databases.
Changes since the previous release of beta version 0.7.0
eVis has been download by people from over 80 countries. Do you use eVis on a regular basis? We want to hear from you! Please send us a short note from the eVis comments page and tell us how you are using eVis and what you like and don’t like about the plugin.
Do you use QGIS with native language support? Want to contribute to the open source community but are not a programmer? Translating eVis is straight forward, requires no programming knowledge and only takes about two hours. If you are interested in knowing more please check out the eVis Trac site for more information.
Version 1.2.3 of the Geographic Distance Matrix Generator is online and ready for download!
Updates include:
Additional notes for running large datasets:
By default, the Java Runtime Environment (JRE) only allocates 16 – 32 MB of memory for running Java applications. For larger datasets it is necessary to request more memory for the JRE. GDMG Version 1.2.3 comes with scripts for Linux, Mac OSX and Windows that will start the matrix generator with 512MB of memory, which should be enough for most datasets. Should the GDMG stop part of the way through processing a dataset with more than 2000 points, it may be necessary to request additional memory for the JRE. This can be done by editing the launcher scripts.
The command to start the GDMG looks like,
java -Xmx512m -jar GeographicDistanceMatrixGenerator_v1.2.3.jar
where 512m is the amount of memory to request. If you increase the amount of memory beyond what your system can provide, the application will not start. If you want to know about how much memory you will need to allocate for the JRE, you can use this general formula for a ball park number.
2 * ( n * n ) * b
where n is the number of localities and b is the number of bytes per result, which varies based on the distance between points and the output units. The results are stored as text while the process runs, so b = 15 is good general estimate. Therefore, for 2000 points the JRE would need around 120MB.
We would like to hear how you are using the GDMG, the more feedback we get the more we can support these types of tools. Send any questions, comments, raves or rants to us through the GDMG comment form !
We recently completed our sixth Species Distribution Modeling workshop at the Southwestern Research Station in Arizona. We were once again very encouraged by the range of interests of the participants, with a diversity of questions relating to conservation and evolution being addressed.
Applications are now being accepted for the seventh workshop, which will be held March 30 – April 03 2009. Please see the species distirbution modeling course description for more details.
Following the official release of QGIS v0.11.0 Metis, we have updated the eVis download page to include binaries that will work with QGIS v0.10.0 and v0.11.0.
We are interested in hearing how you are using eVis and if you think eVis should be included in the core QGIS distribution. Please send us your contact information if you would be willing to participate in a short interview by filling out the form at the bottom of the download page OR simply leave us a comment (contact information not required) on our comments and questions page.
The American Museum of Natural History’s (AMNH) Center for Biodiversity and Conservation (CBC) seeks a person with training and knowledge of applications of remote sensing, Geographical Information Systems (GIS), and modeling to biodiversity conservation. The Biodiversity Informatics Specialist will assist in the implementation of a strong collaborative research program with American Museum of Natural History curators, Center for Biodiversity and Conservation staff, and other partners.
Qualifications:
Candidates should have a Master’s degree or equivalent, and advanced experience in remote sensing and GIS applications to biology- and/or conservation and or wildlife management-related projects. Working knowledge of more than one of the following software packages is preferred: ERDAS, ENVI, ARC/INFO, ArcView and open source alternatives. The ideal candidate will have a strong background in conservation biology and remote sensing. Technical skills in database design and management, programming and scripting languages, systems administration, and GPS technology would be an advantage. Must work well independently and have strong interpersonal and communication skills.
Responsibilities and Duties
The Biodiversity Informatics Specialist, together with the Biodiversity Informatics Facility Manager and CBC Director will assist in the implementation of a program applying remote sensing, GIS, and modeling to biodiversity conservation. Responsibilities of this job include data management, data processing and visualization (raster, vector, and tabular), species distribution modeling, provision of technical and scientific training for staff and partner institutions, and maintenance of lab hardware and software resources (data, computers, and equipment). Some travel for fieldwork and training will be required.
Applications, including curriculum vitae, a narrative statement of program interests and full contact information for three references should be sent, by July 18th to:
Associate Director
American Museum of Natural History
Center for Biodiversity and Conservation
Central Park West at 79th Street
New York, N.Y. 10024
Email address: farengo@amnh.org
The American Museum of Natural History is an Equal Opportunity Employer. The Museum does not discriminate due to age, sex, religion, race, color, national origin, disability, marital status, veteran status, sexual orientation, or any other factor prohibited by law. Qualified candidates of diverse ethnic and racial backgrounds are encouraged to apply for vacant positions at all levels.
We are happy to announce the newest release of eVis, The Event Visualization Tool (0.7.0), compatible with QGIS Io (0.10.0). eVis has been developed to easily view geocoded images, referenced through attributes of features, in the QGIS mapping environment. Images can be loaded from a local disk or remotely using the http protocol. Features can be any vector type readable by QGIS and eVis can be used to connect to a database to build new point layers based on the results of a SQL query.
Changes and new features in version 0.7.0:
Numerous bug fixes. Special thanks to Tim Sutton, John Tull, and Magnus Homann for their feedback and patches.
(new!) Load supporting documents (e.g., doc, avi, mp3 etc), referenced through attributes of features, with external applications
(new!) Additional parameters allow the user to adjust or completely override path information stored in attribute
(new!) Compass offsets (i.e., correction for magnetic declination) can be manually entered or read from an attribute
(new!) Online documentation
(new!) Binary version of plugin for Linux, Windows XP/Vista, and Mac OSX (Leopard)
The plugin can be downloaded at the following URL:
http://biodiversityinformatics.amnh.org/open_source/evis/download.php
We are interested in hearing how you are using eVis in your projects. If you are willing to participate in a follow up interview, please send us your contact information by filling out the form at the bottom of the download page!
We recently (April, 2008) completed teaching two short courses at the AMNH’s Southwestern Research Station in Arizona. During the first week, participants from a variety of backgrounds, including graduate students, professors and conservation professionals, were introduced to practical remote sensing techniques. In addition to learning how to acquire, visualize and analyze satellite imagery, participants were encouraged to create a small project to apply these remote sensing skills to data from their focal areas around the world so that they could take advantage of the small class setting and interact with the instructors and other participants. Ranging from landcover change in Southeast Asia to archaeological exploration in the Yucatan peninsula, both participants and instructors alike were able to learn from each other. Offering this short course directly before the second week’s Species Distribution Modeling course was a great opportunity for students attending both weeks to better understand the environmental layers that are the basis of any good model.
Our Modeling short course has continued to be very popular. Over 50 applicants applied for the only 15 available spots in the course, and we were once again greatly encouraged by the diverse geographical and academic range of interests exhibited by the participants of the most recent course. The course participants were also encouraged to undertake an individual project that incorporates the species modeling methods that were being discussed with data from and pertaining to their areas of interest. From species future range predictions, incorporating IPCC future climate scenarios, to studies in ecological niche distribution and endemism, this course’s participants provided a good representation of the exciting applications to which this rapidly developing field can be applied.
We plan to offer both of these courses at a yet to be determined time. Please keep an eye on our site for future updates.
The Center for Biodiversity and Conservation’s Biodiversity Informatics Facility is starting a blog!
