WASHINGTON TECHNOLOGY NEW May 19, 1994

GeoResearch Looks to Skies for Latitude ,and Longil

Computer Mapping That Uses GPS, Digital Photography For a Sense of Where You Are- ____..

By Liz Skinner STAFF WRITER

Doug Richardson recently relocated his young family to Washington, D.C. from Billings, Mont., in hopes his small com­puter mapping company, GeoResearch Inc., will flourish in the federal market­place. Richardson's expectations are rid­ing on his GeoLink software, which he calls "a revolutionary way of mak­ing maps."

"If you can walk, drive, fly or take a boat - you can make a map using GeoLink," said GeoRe­search's president.

Using the Pentagon's Global Po­sitioning Satellites, or GPS, Geo­Link collects continuous position­ing data and creates an accurate digital map while you travel through or over the area of interest. Mapping that used to require weeks or months of exact field measurements can now be done in days, said Richardson.

exactly where he or she is. Since 1980, when he began GeoRe­

search as a small environmental science ftnn, Richardson has transformed the com­pany into a $4 million GPS/GIS computer mapping business. GeoLink was created to meet the needs of Richardson's fteld re­searchers who wanted to log descriptive data along with locational points.

Richardson said. International customers make up about

40 percent of GeoResearch' s business. In a joint venture with the Philippine govern­ment, GeoLink is being used to survey the former U.S. Navy base at Subic Bay and digitize the base for industrial and environ­mental management, said James Meenan, GeoResearch's international markets vice

the technology to where GPS is now practi­cal for many different applications. Other large firms that have been pursuing the GPS commercial market include Magellan, Ashtech and Rockwell.

GPS has been available for commercial use since 1984, but it was not until January 1993 that the 21 st satellite reached orbit and provided a completely operational net­

work for the ftrst time. In 1978, the Department of De­

fense launched the fIrst of the $12 billion constellation of 21 satellites (plus three backups) known as GPS. Now a GPS receiver any­where on Earth will be within the range of at least four satellites.

Using data received from the four satellites, GPS receivers calculate three-dimensional position - lati­tude, longitude and altitude - and inform the computer once every second of the exact location of the traveler.

T1-_ n __ ... _____ __ 40.-_ '1 _ ... \- _

GeoResearch recently received a patent for its space-age computer mapping system that integrates de­scriptive field data with the loca­tional information it collects from the GPS. GeoLink is a hand-held unit that produces instant map cov­erages for Geographic Information Systems,- or GIS, which can be used to inventory and map features in the environment.

l11C rC11ll:lgon conrrOls me precI­sion of commercial GPS systems by randomly scrambling the satel­lite data, limiting most civilian uses to 100 meters of accuracy . But by using differential correction tech-

... niques, computer systems can now ~ determine location within one to iii five meters accuracy, said Thad ~ Mauney, GeoResearch scientific ~ director.

The company offers an optional camera-like module called GeoPhoto, which allows users to

Jim Mcinerney, technical support manager for GeoResearch, tests his company's global posi­tioning pack that gives a whole new meaning to the term "finding yourself."

l Scott Fifield of the U.S. Census Bureau said his agency is looking for a system that will allow it to link GPS with the electronic maps

create digital photographic images of items along the route. For example, when GeoLink was used by the Federal Emergency Management Administration to map the Mississippi Flood damage, the government captured photographs of thou­sands of damaged buildings. FEMA then used the pictures to evaluate and quantify the flood damage, said Richardson.

The digital photos are logged into the map as specific points that can be called up later using the software's menued inter­face, said Jim McInerney, GeoResearch's manager of technical support.

The metal rod sticking out of McIner­ney's pack is receiving the GPS signal, but there are smaller GPS receivers that can be hand-held - or head-held. A Velcro strip on the smaller unit can be attached to the inside of a hat, so that hands can be kept free for field work.

GeoLink users enter descriptive data for any point of interest via a computer key­board, keypad, a barcode reader or voice­input devices. The software automatically positions the attribute's georeferenced lo­cation and plots it on a map being created at the same time.

The evolving map can be viewed against an existing background map to show a user

-

"If you can walk, drive, fly or take a boat - you can make a map using GeoUnk."

- Doug Richardson, President, GeoResearch Inc.

Earlier this year, Richardson moved GeoResearch's headquarters from Mon­tana to Vienna, Va. "in order to be closer to the large federal market," he said. Using GeoLink, Richardson's firm recently com­pleted two Environmental Impact State­ments for the U.S. Forest Service worth $2 million. In addition to the $200,000 FEMA flood contract, the Department of Interior, the U.S. Army Corps. of Engineers and the National Park Service have all used Geo­Link for data collection.

There is a very broad market for Geo­Link, said Richardson. GeoLink users in­clude Florida Power & Light, AT&T, Southwestern Bell and the California Of­fice of Emergency Services , which em­ployed GeoLink to assess damage from the Los Angeles riots. Many companies and lo­cal governments also use it for environ­mental assessments and for natural re­sources and land management applications,

president. GeoResearch also has projects in Russia, Malaysia and Mexico.

GeoLink software costs about $2,500 for the base model. So far, GeoResearch has sold about 1,000 units. Along with the software, each customer is invited to a training program, and larger clients are given customized training. .

For the last four years, GeoResearch has sponsored an annual GPS/GIS conference and training program that offers partici­pants a chance to study the growing market and learn about new technologies. This year's conference, held last week in Tysons Corner, Va., attracted about 100 people and many vendors.

There are other fIrmS that offer products similar to GeoLink. Sunnyvale, Calif.­based Trimble Navigation was the first company to offer GPS for commercial, non-military use, and still leads the market. Trimble has helped bring down the cost of

the bureau has created for the coun­try. The goal is to have census information collectors georeference each house they visit and be able to return to the homes later.

Using GeoLink, the census maps could be downloaded onto the system and would provide the backdrop for the GPS data as it is collected. GeoLink is one of the systems the bureau is considering. Currently, the agency is experimenting with Trimble units, Fifield said.

As an archeologist with Argonne Na­tional Labs, Konnie Moeller said she hopes to bring GeoLink along on future digs. "It is very important to be able to plot and de­scribe sites and then have the ability to re­turn to that exact location," she explained.

The GeoLink system runs on most Pes, laptops or notebook computers and works with most GPS receivers and GIS systems. Richardson says GeoLink makes mapping faster, easier and less expensive.

National Park Service's Mike Kunz­mann, who has used GeoLink in the field, seems to agree. Kunzmann: "Using back­ground display maps gives us a better ori­entation to the habitat we're in. The user in­terface is excellent. It's really friendly for non-technical people to use."