The use of geospatial technology in personal and societal health has never been stronger. These resources from the first quarter of 2012 highlight how a variety of agencies are using mapping, detective work and crowdsourcing to tackle health challenges at all scales.

It’s a fair question as discussions continue about a new rail line from San Bernardino, CA into Redlands. The first phase of a planned line has three stops for the passenger rail service in Redlands: one near Esri, one near the 14-screen cinema, and one near the University of Redlands. The proposal is from the county transportation planning authority, the San Bernardino Associated Government (SanBAG).

Do you need imagery of an area taken on a common sensor and platform at a uniform resolution with standard specifications? Then DigitalGlobe’s Precision Aerial product might be just what you need. Product Manager Kevin Bullock explains.

Last Friday's Chicago Sun Times article Under-the-radar job growth highlights "little-known growth industries" including high tech set building, geospatial technology and physics researcher. The geospatial student profiled, Margaret Yagen, a senior at Elmhurst College, is working as an intern in the west Chicago suburb of Westchester. 

A company called TerraGo and a product called GeoPDF became well-known back in 2008. In March 2012, the company released version 6 of its software, prompting Directions Magazine to interview Chief Technical Officer George Demmy to learn what’s new in both the software and the use of GeoPDF.

For the past 10 years, the geospatial sector has experienced what many believe was bubble-like growth. Some would attribute the growth to the U.S. federal government’s support of our military engagements and intelligence gathering initiatives to thwart terrorism. Recently, this growth trend has been abating. Is this good or bad for the geospatial technology sector? Intergraph Vice President Mladen Stojic’s take on this situation may surprise you.

Are you ready to see UAVs swooping in around your neighborhood? The FAA is in the process of selecting test cities to develop the policy of integrating UAVs into the National Airspace System. That droning noise you may hear soon could be your friendly policeman doing his duty.

Last week, Bentley Systems released Descartes V8i (SELECTseries 3), which the company described as an “information modeling product for advanced point-cloud processing.” According to Bentley, some of the new product features support “hybrid point cloud modeling” and scalable terrain models (STMs), which will be used to address 3D image processing. Editor in Chief Joe Francica discussed some of the innovations with product managers, Faraz Razi and Benoit Fredericque.

Are you thinking about becoming a certified GIS professional? Looking to understand how it could benefit your career? Sheila Wilson, GISP, executive director of the GIS Certification Institute, and Susan White, GISP, senior planner with the city of Fort Worth’s Planning and Development Department GIS Team who currently serves on GISCI’s Review and Outreach Committees, provide the top 10 things you should know about the process.

OpenStreetMap has been making the news quite a bit since last fall. Executive Editor Adena Schutzberg asks, do you know everything you need to know about this important data project?