from outside it looks like a standard
van even the small pie shaped antenna
and cameras on its roof are easy to miss
but inside is specially designed
equipment that revolutionizes method and
greatly enhances management and
maintenance of the nation's highways
using satellite positioning signals
researchers from nasa's center for the
commercial development of space in ohio
are producing highly accurate up-to-date
maps simply by driving the streets
maintaining contact with navigational
satellites makes it possible to
calculate exactly where the van is at
all times
and if the location of the van is known
so is the position of the road it's on
never before has mapping been so easy or
precise
not only is the information accurate and
current it's also in digital form
meaning it can be processed with
computers this is of tremendous value to
government agencies responsible for
managing highways
decisions such as the best route for
hazardous cargo can be made far more
quickly and reliably
until now building an electronic
database to support decision making like
this required digitizing existing paper
maps an expensive time-consuming
imprecise process
and often the maps worked from were over
20 years old
another major benefit of the mobile
mapping system is data that can be
obtained about highway features
project personnel record this
information
at the same time digital stereo cameras
capture the position and condition of
overpasses signs utility poles guard
rails potholes and any other features
useful to highway planners
project manager philip johnson if you
have all this information in a digital
form and you know that you have a budget
of so many dollars then you can look at
your the roads that are in the worst
condition
you'll know exactly where these sections
are that need repair and then from that
you can determine how to allocate your
money so that you get them the most
benefit from it
the technology can also be transferred
to trains
boats for waterways or aircraft for
larger geographic features
the system could even be part of future
rovers mapping the surface of the moon
on mars
another application is the mapping and
documentation of archaeological sites
including anasazi indian ruins in the
southwestern united states we could take
our system and drive to one of these
ruins take some images of it and not
only would we have its position we'd
have a visual record of it that would be
very valuable in the future
the mobile mapping system
using signals from space
to obtain valuable information about
earth today
and other planets in the future