Grassroots mapping with balloons & kites
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jwalling
May 4, 2010, 5:06:10 PM5/4/10
to OSM (OpenStreetMap) Seattle
Grassroots mapping with aerial photography from balloons and kites is
an intriguing idea for OSM civic activity: a cool way to partner with
schools and community groups.
Main web site:
http://grassrootsmapping.org/
Wiki:
http://wiki.grassrootsmapping.org/
"Grassroots Mapping (see main web site) is a series of
participatory mapping projects involving communities in cartographic
dispute. This January, Jeffrey Warren of the MIT Media Lab
(media.mit.edu) and the Center for Future Civic Media worked with a
series of organizations and communities to produce maps with children
and adults from several communities in Lima, including the Cantagallo
settlement of Shipibo on the bank of the Rimac and the Juan Pablo II
community in Villa El Salvador."
"Seeking to invert the traditional power structure of
cartography, the grassroots mappers used helium balloons and kites to
loft their own “community satellites” made with inexpensive digital
cameras. The resulting images, which are owned by the residents, are
georeferenced and stitched into maps which are 100x higher resolution
that those offered by Google, at extremely low cost. In some cases
these maps may be used to support residents’ claims to land title. By
creating open-source tools to include everyday people in exploring and
defining their own geography, Warren hopes to enable a diverse set of
alternative agendas and practices, and to emphasize the fundamentally
narrative and subjective aspects of mapping over its use as a medium
of control."
an intriguing idea for OSM civic activity: a cool way to partner with
schools and community groups.
Main web site:
http://grassrootsmapping.org/
Wiki:
http://wiki.grassrootsmapping.org/
"Grassroots Mapping (see main web site) is a series of
participatory mapping projects involving communities in cartographic
dispute. This January, Jeffrey Warren of the MIT Media Lab
(media.mit.edu) and the Center for Future Civic Media worked with a
series of organizations and communities to produce maps with children
and adults from several communities in Lima, including the Cantagallo
settlement of Shipibo on the bank of the Rimac and the Juan Pablo II
community in Villa El Salvador."
"Seeking to invert the traditional power structure of
cartography, the grassroots mappers used helium balloons and kites to
loft their own “community satellites” made with inexpensive digital
cameras. The resulting images, which are owned by the residents, are
georeferenced and stitched into maps which are 100x higher resolution
that those offered by Google, at extremely low cost. In some cases
these maps may be used to support residents’ claims to land title. By
creating open-source tools to include everyday people in exploring and
defining their own geography, Warren hopes to enable a diverse set of
alternative agendas and practices, and to emphasize the fundamentally
narrative and subjective aspects of mapping over its use as a medium
of control."
Peter Keum in Seattle - CUGOS Northwest OSGeo Chapter
May 5, 2010, 11:41:39 PM5/5/10
to OSM (OpenStreetMap) Seattle
When I was at Wherecamp SF last month, I met a fellow from USGS who
had several different kites attached to camera and taking pictures and
using tools that Jeffery Warren developed to view them on the web.
Anyway, he suggested two sites that folks might be interested in
looking at kites kit. USGS fellow suggested Levitan which fly easier
and can carried the weight of the camera. But I also would like to
build what Jeffery built here in Seattle.
I myself is interested in purchasing one of these kit for upcoming
summer.
http://www.intothewind.com/
http://www.brooxes.com/newsite/BBKK/kitesales.html
I missed the last meeting, when is next meeting planned?
thanks
peter
had several different kites attached to camera and taking pictures and
using tools that Jeffery Warren developed to view them on the web.
Anyway, he suggested two sites that folks might be interested in
looking at kites kit. USGS fellow suggested Levitan which fly easier
and can carried the weight of the camera. But I also would like to
build what Jeffery built here in Seattle.
I myself is interested in purchasing one of these kit for upcoming
summer.
http://www.intothewind.com/
http://www.brooxes.com/newsite/BBKK/kitesales.html
I missed the last meeting, when is next meeting planned?
thanks
peter
jwalling
May 6, 2010, 9:08:45 PM5/6/10
to OSM (OpenStreetMap) Seattle
Update: (CNN) Citizens monitor Gulf Coast after oil spill - May 6,
2010
http://edition.cnn.com/2010/TECH/05/06/crowdsource.gulf.oil/
"Here is what MIT student Jeffrey Warren plans to do Thursday: Walk
up and down the Louisiana coast holding a kite string that's tethered
to a helium-filled trash bag and a point-and-shoot camera."
This CNN report also includes references to
-- Louisiana Bucket Brigade using Ushahidi web site to map oil spill
incidents http://oilspill.labucketbrigade.org/
-- Google oil spill maps and data http://www.google.com/crisisresponse/oilspill/
-- http://www.crisismappers.net/
-- http://wiki.crisiscommons.org/wiki/Oil_Spill_Response
It looks like mapping and crowdsourcing will play a big role in the
Gulf Oil Spill disaster recovery.
--John Walling
2010
http://edition.cnn.com/2010/TECH/05/06/crowdsource.gulf.oil/
"Here is what MIT student Jeffrey Warren plans to do Thursday: Walk
up and down the Louisiana coast holding a kite string that's tethered
to a helium-filled trash bag and a point-and-shoot camera."
This CNN report also includes references to
-- Louisiana Bucket Brigade using Ushahidi web site to map oil spill
incidents http://oilspill.labucketbrigade.org/
-- Google oil spill maps and data http://www.google.com/crisisresponse/oilspill/
-- http://www.crisismappers.net/
-- http://wiki.crisiscommons.org/wiki/Oil_Spill_Response
It looks like mapping and crowdsourcing will play a big role in the
Gulf Oil Spill disaster recovery.
--John Walling
Ramey
May 12, 2010, 4:55:21 PM5/12/10
to osm-s...@googlegroups.com
On May 5, 2010, at 8:41 PM, Peter Keum in Seattle - CUGOS Northwest
one. I wasn't terribly thrilled with the location though, as it was
quite noisy. The back room might have been better.
I asked at the Green Lake Library, and they're pretty liberal about
use of their meeting room, but the meeting has to be done and out of
the room by 15 minutes before they close, which is 8pm at the latest.
I didn't ask to look at their calendar though, so I have no idea about
how they're booked.
So, please, toss out ideas for a time, a place and what to discuss.
Ramey
OSGeo Chapter wrote:
> I missed the last meeting, when is next meeting planned?
> thanks
I don't have any ideas for a next meeting, but I would like to have
> I missed the last meeting, when is next meeting planned?
> thanks
one. I wasn't terribly thrilled with the location though, as it was
quite noisy. The back room might have been better.
I asked at the Green Lake Library, and they're pretty liberal about
use of their meeting room, but the meeting has to be done and out of
the room by 15 minutes before they close, which is 8pm at the latest.
I didn't ask to look at their calendar though, so I have no idea about
how they're booked.
So, please, toss out ideas for a time, a place and what to discuss.
Ramey
Ramey
May 12, 2010, 5:14:50 PM5/12/10
to osm-s...@googlegroups.com
On May 4, 2010, at 2:06 PM, jwalling wrote:
> Grassroots mapping with aerial photography from balloons and kites is
> an intriguing idea for OSM civic activity: a cool way to partner with
> schools and community groups.
this. In the past I've thought about trying to put together one of
the DIY Drones [1] and use that for mapping hard to map areas, or
places that are too new or don't have good Yahoo Imagery. I don't
think I'm up for taking the lead in it, but if anyone wants some help,
I'd be willing to supply that.
Ramey
[1] http://diydrones.com/
Wim Lewis
May 13, 2010, 8:16:05 PM5/13/10
to osm-s...@googlegroups.com
On 5/12/10 2:14 PM, Ramey wrote:
> In the past I've thought about trying to put together one of the DIY
> Drones [1] and use that for mapping hard to map areas, or places that
> are too new or don't have good Yahoo Imagery.
I've thought about that a little too. It seems like it should be a good
> In the past I've thought about trying to put together one of the DIY
> Drones [1] and use that for mapping hard to map areas, or places that
> are too new or don't have good Yahoo Imagery.
way to get high resolution imagery of large areas. Also, UAVs seem like
they'd be fun to mess with, from a hacker/tinkerer perspective.
AIUI from occasionally reading the DIYDrones forum there are some legal
difficulties with flying unmanned aircraft over populated places though.
Kites probably fall under different rules, even if you make a drone
that's as lightweight as a kite...
Ramey
May 14, 2010, 10:06:36 AM5/14/10
to osm-s...@googlegroups.com
On May 13, 2010, at 5:16 PM, Wim Lewis wrote:
AIUI from occasionally reading the DIYDrones forum there are some legal
difficulties with flying unmanned aircraft over populated places though.
Kites probably fall under different rules, even if you make a drone
that's as lightweight as a kite...
Well, be it kite or model plane, I'd certainly enjoy experimenting with it. The FAA is primarily regulating commercial use of UAVs [1]. Model or amateur use is still governed by advisory rules [2] which recommend not flying over populated areas. The FAA rules for amateur R/C use are recommendations for best practices, and aren't requirements though. Although, if people go around publicly ignoring them, that might change.
Ramey
[2] see FAA Advisory Circular 91-57 on the above page.
jwalling
May 19, 2010, 10:28:49 PM5/19/10
to OSM (OpenStreetMap) Seattle, jwalling
Upcoming Webcast:
MAY 26, 2010 - 12:00 noon EST, 9:00 am PST
news source: http://www.geotime.com/cmnet.aspx
Mapping the Gulf Oil Spill With Balloons & Kites - presented by
Jeffrey Warren
Join us to hear Jeffrey Warren describe how GrassrootsMapping.org is
teaching ordinary citizens to use balloons, kites, and other simple
and inexpensive tools to produce their own aerial imagery of the
recent Gulf Coast oil spill. The team's activities range from helping
to organize some of the data collecting flyovers, to going out in
fishing boats and walking along beaches to collect imagery with the
generous assistance of the captains whose livelihoods are at stake.
Driven by a belief in complete open access to spill imagery
GrassrootsMapping.org is ensuring that all this documentation, which
will be essential for environmental and legal use in coming years, is
released into the public domain.
See some of the images collect by the team at Flickr or at
Grassrootsmapping.org.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/tags/gulfoilmap
* Register Now http://www.geotime.com/AdWord/Crisis-Mappers-Net-Webcasts/New-Webcast-Registration.aspx
- John Walling
=============
MAY 26, 2010 - 12:00 noon EST, 9:00 am PST
news source: http://www.geotime.com/cmnet.aspx
Mapping the Gulf Oil Spill With Balloons & Kites - presented by
Jeffrey Warren
Join us to hear Jeffrey Warren describe how GrassrootsMapping.org is
teaching ordinary citizens to use balloons, kites, and other simple
and inexpensive tools to produce their own aerial imagery of the
recent Gulf Coast oil spill. The team's activities range from helping
to organize some of the data collecting flyovers, to going out in
fishing boats and walking along beaches to collect imagery with the
generous assistance of the captains whose livelihoods are at stake.
Driven by a belief in complete open access to spill imagery
GrassrootsMapping.org is ensuring that all this documentation, which
will be essential for environmental and legal use in coming years, is
released into the public domain.
See some of the images collect by the team at Flickr or at
Grassrootsmapping.org.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/tags/gulfoilmap
* Register Now http://www.geotime.com/AdWord/Crisis-Mappers-Net-Webcasts/New-Webcast-Registration.aspx
- John Walling
=============
On May 4, 2:06 pm, jwalling <wallingconsult...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Grassroots mapping with aerial photography from balloons and kites is
> an intriguing idea for OSM civic activity: a cool way to partner with
> schools and community groups.
>
> Main web site:http://grassrootsmapping.org/
>
> SNIP
> an intriguing idea for OSM civic activity: a cool way to partner with
> schools and community groups.
>
> Main web site:http://grassrootsmapping.org/
>
Ramey
May 21, 2010, 5:00:46 PM5/21/10
to osm-s...@googlegroups.com
I had some thoughts on the kite mapping. It seems that the hard part
is the image rectification. The way the grassrootsmapping [1] guys
are doing it is manually relative to a map or some other aerial
imagery. While thinking about how you could automate it, the three
things that came to mind are geotagging the photos, having reference
points on the ground, and the UW photo tourism project.
For geotagging [2] the photos, you'd need to attach a gps receiver, or
data logger near the camera, so that would increase the payload
weight, and it still doesn't give you pointing direction, although you
might be able to add that after the fact by hand (which could be
tedious). The geotags might lessen the computations to rectify the
photos.
The reference points on the ground would be fairly easy. Just have a
banner laying on the ground with a symbol large enough to be seen in
the photos, and note its coordinates with a gps unit. Garmin has a
way to average the coordinates of a waypoint after you've just made
it, but I haven't tested it to see how much accuracy it adds. I
suppose the best way to test that is find the coordinates of a
benchmark, and compare them after averaging. You'd probably want at
least three in the closest area, and maybe a few farther out. Then
you could use your own coordinates to rectify the photos, rather than
pulling them off other imagery, or maps.
The photo tourism project [3] is probably the neatest idea, although I
haven't tried it, and they imply that it's quite computationally
intensive. It takes a lot of photos and uses them to compute a 3-d
point cloud of the object being photographed. I don't know how well
it would do on relatively flat subjects though. They've posted some
source code so that others can try it out. It's one of the
technologies that went into Microsoft's Photosynth [4].
It certainly does sound like a fun and easy way to get aerial imagery,
but some work needs to be done to make the processing less labor
intensive, and reliant on outside sources for the rectification. It
may be paranoia on my part, but it sounds to me like a claim could be
made for the rectified kite imagery being a derivative work of the
rectification source (e.g. google satellite view).
Ramey
[1] http://grassrootsmapping.org/
[2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geotagging
[3] http://phototour.cs.washington.edu/
[4] http://photosynth.net/
is the image rectification. The way the grassrootsmapping [1] guys
are doing it is manually relative to a map or some other aerial
imagery. While thinking about how you could automate it, the three
things that came to mind are geotagging the photos, having reference
points on the ground, and the UW photo tourism project.
For geotagging [2] the photos, you'd need to attach a gps receiver, or
data logger near the camera, so that would increase the payload
weight, and it still doesn't give you pointing direction, although you
might be able to add that after the fact by hand (which could be
tedious). The geotags might lessen the computations to rectify the
photos.
The reference points on the ground would be fairly easy. Just have a
banner laying on the ground with a symbol large enough to be seen in
the photos, and note its coordinates with a gps unit. Garmin has a
way to average the coordinates of a waypoint after you've just made
it, but I haven't tested it to see how much accuracy it adds. I
suppose the best way to test that is find the coordinates of a
benchmark, and compare them after averaging. You'd probably want at
least three in the closest area, and maybe a few farther out. Then
you could use your own coordinates to rectify the photos, rather than
pulling them off other imagery, or maps.
The photo tourism project [3] is probably the neatest idea, although I
haven't tried it, and they imply that it's quite computationally
intensive. It takes a lot of photos and uses them to compute a 3-d
point cloud of the object being photographed. I don't know how well
it would do on relatively flat subjects though. They've posted some
source code so that others can try it out. It's one of the
technologies that went into Microsoft's Photosynth [4].
It certainly does sound like a fun and easy way to get aerial imagery,
but some work needs to be done to make the processing less labor
intensive, and reliant on outside sources for the rectification. It
may be paranoia on my part, but it sounds to me like a claim could be
made for the rectified kite imagery being a derivative work of the
rectification source (e.g. google satellite view).
Ramey
[1] http://grassrootsmapping.org/
[2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geotagging
[3] http://phototour.cs.washington.edu/
[4] http://photosynth.net/
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