PCI Geomatics Signs Million Dollar Contract with BSEI for an Automated Image Production System

Richmond Hill, Ontario – February 25, 2010: PCI Geomatics, a world leading developer of geo-imaging software and systems, is pleased to announce it has signed a million dollar contract with Beijing Space Eye Innovation Technology Co. Ltd. (BSEI) to supply an automated image processing system to the China Centre for Resources Satellite Data and Application.

Under the terms of the contract, PCI Geomatics has been entrusted to provide an advanced image processing system for the automatic registration and mosaicking of multi-sensor imagery.
The system includes PCI’s advanced image processing technology, which employs NVIDIA Graphic Processing Units (GPUs) to significantly accelerate the automation steps. The contract also includes the provision of professional services, training, and ongoing support.

“PCI Geomatics has established a strong and successful relationship with BSEI,” said Yubin Xin, General Manager of PCI Beijing Technology Corporation Ltd. “This contract highlights the value of PCI’s new robust, automated image processing systems which employ GPU technology, along with the importance of having local services provided for via the PCI Beijing office.”

“We selected PCI Geomatics and their leading edge innovative solutions to provide us with the reliability and scalability we need to support this project,” said Yafu Sun, Vice General Manager of Beijing Space Eye Innovation Technology Co. Ltd.

BSEI is an exclusive reseller of PCI Geomatics' flagship software Geomatica® in China.
For additional information on Beijing Space Eye Innovation Technology Co. Ltd, please visit: http://www.bsei.com.cn/.

About PCI Geomatics
PCI Geomatics is a world leading developer of software and systems for geo-imaging solutions. Since 1982, we have specialized in remote sensing, digital photogrammetry, spatial analysis, cartographic production, automated production systems, image management and on demand mapping solutions. PCI Geomatics' advanced software systems address a wide variety of industry applications including the environment, agriculture, security and intelligence, aerospace & defense, and satellite receiving stations. We have the expertise and know-how to turn images into useful information.For more information, visit www.pcigeomatics.com.
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Press Contact
Alysia Vetter
Marketing Manager

Tel: 819-770-0022, Ext. 233
Fax: 819-770-0098
Email: vetter@pcigeomatics.com
Web: www.pcigeomatics.com

Why Geospatial Users and Developers Should Know Their GPU from their CPU

By Adena Schutzberg , Directions Magazine February 24, 2010

I've made the statement for a few years, which I believe was first prompted by Gary Smith at Green Mountain Geographics, that we in geospatial technologies need to spend more time with gamers. Smith focuses his work on 3D modeling and visualization and sees a direct connection. I got a taste of what's possible at last year's New York State Geospatial Summit when Adam Szofran of Microsoft explained how cleverly his team packages the geodata for Flight Simulator (Directions Magazine coverage). That discussion led me to naively believe that it was in the software arena that game developers could bring the most to the geospatial table. After speaking to Sumit Gupta, senior marketing manager for Tesla High Performance Computing products at Nvidia, I better understand the role of hardware, specifically the graphics processing unit, or GPU.
Nvidia has been around for 17 years and is best known as the company that makes the processors, the GPUs, for graphics cards used in gaming machines. The early chips were aimed at making computer game environments more realistic - making the streets look like streets and the characters' hair look like real hair. That hardware, though we didn't use the term, used the same principles of computing hardware as supercomputers (more on that later).

Graphics like these are made using Nvidia chips. (Click for larger view.) In 2000, Nvidia began to develop chips that were aimed at more than just gaming; they were general purpose chips with software for easy programmability. One of the first groups of heavy users was involved in medical imaging. They wanted to take graphic image slices of the body and reconstruct them into 3D structures. They used the tools to write software that took advantage of these general purpose chips, sometimes called General Purpose Graphics Processing Units (GPGPUs).
The architecture behind these general purpose chips, rolled out in 2006/7, is referred to as CUDA. That name also graces the enhanced version of the C language used to take advantage of chips: "CUDA C."
What special properties are in these chips? The GPU is a massively parallel processor. That is, it can do many operations at the same time, like a supercomputer. Gupta offers the following very effective image to distinguish parallel processing from sequential processing. Let's say you have 20 students in a classroom, each with a cup of water on their desk. You ask each one to come up to the front of the room and pour the water into a bucket - one by one. It'd take a while, right? But what if you asked them all to come up at once and pour the water in the bucket? The process would go much faster, since all the actions would be done at the same time. Further, in the computing version, there would be no pushing and shoving because the CUDA parallel programming model makes sure that all the "parallel" actions are well coordinated and run smoothly.
When a programmer uses CUDA C to code processes to use the GPU, the aim is to have all the students pouring water at once. Or, to translate it to familiar processes in geospatial, to manipulate each pixel in an image, all at the same time. That's a bit of an oversimplification. In fact, most likely, one "chunk" of the image, that is one group of pixels, would be processed using the GPU, then a second set of pixels, then a third. But for each chunk, all the pixels would be processed at the same time.
Now, it turns out that the manipulation of pixels, the orthorectification of aerials and the pan sharpening of images, is very much like the graphics problems in gaming. Thus, they are a perfect fit to be taken out of the queue of the central processing unit, the CPU, which does things sequentially, and sent over to the GPU, to be handled in parallel.
So, what does that mean in practice? Gupta pointed me to a great example: a slope calculation based on a digital elevation model (DEM). Basically, the GIS software is asked to find the slope at each point and make a new surface with those values. If you do this without taking advantage of a GPU installed in your machine, using Manifold 8, it takes just about a minute. When you take advantage of the GPU? Two seconds. You can watch the video if you don't believe me.
To be clear, best practices in coding suggest that software programs look for, and then use, a GPU if it is available. The user typically does not need to "enable use" of a GPU. Manifold, by the way, coded about three dozen functions in version 8 to take advantage of the GPU.
Manifold is not the only GIS company taking advantage of Nvidia's GPUs; PCI Geomatics and DigitalGlobe (press release) have, as well. For a GIS project, the difference in processing speed between a day and an hour is huge. For satellite data, freshest is best, so speeding the time from capture to customer makes more money. There are defense players exploring using GPUs for geospatial work, too.While most of these examples focus on raster processing, GPUs are good at floating point operations, too, including modeling. Consider "ray tracing" - that's the term graphic designers use to describe how to make light in an image act just the way it does in "real life." If you have all the rules about how much light reflects and is absorbed on each different kind of surface, you can make very realistic images. But, in essence, you are sending out each ray from the sun (or the light source) and seeing what happens. What if you send them all out to be processed at once on a GPU? It's much faster. Once you consider that similar types of "wave modeling" are common in GIS work (working with radar, cellular antennas, sound dissipation, line of sight), it's clear there's a lot of spatial processing that can be offloaded to a GPU to speed things up.If these ideas are new to you (as they were to me) you might want to see if the hardware you use for your geospatial work has a GPU. It might be from Nvidia or AMD. You'll also want to take a look at your GIS software to see if it's written to take advantage of that hardware. In the case of Nvidia, there will be a statement that it supports the CUDA or OpenCL standard. Software written for ATI uses Stream Technology to take advantage of the GPU, though as of now, there does not appear to be any GIS software written for that technology.
Read more: http://www.directionsmag.com/article.php?article_id=3418

*Reprinted with permission, Copyright 2010, Directions Media.

PCI Geomatics Receives Contract to Assist MDA with Geospatial Solution

Richmond Hill, Ontario – February 24, 2010: PCI Geomatics, a world leading developer of geo-imaging software and systems, has announced today it has signed a significant six-figure contract with MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates Ltd. (MDA) to develop and deploy an enterprise level image management system to support the processing of RADARSAT-2 satellite imagery for an international customer.

PCI Geomatics offers image processing and analysis solutions through its GeomaticaX technology, an extension of its desktop software converted to pluggable functions. It’s comprised of an extensive list of software functions used for building workflows which can be linked in unassisted processing chains to produce fully automated image and information products. The GeomaticaX product line encompasses the Professional Software Development Kit (ProSDK), ProLines automated workflows, and the GeoImaging Accelerator.

About PCI Geomatics

PCI Geomatics is a world leading developer of software and systems for geo-imaging solutions. Since 1982, we have specialized in remote sensing, digital photogrammetry, spatial analysis, cartographic production, automated production systems, image management and on demand mapping solutions. PCI Geomatics' advanced software systems address a wide variety of industry applications including the environment, agriculture, security and intelligence, aerospace & defense, and satellite receiving stations. We have the expertise and know-how to turn images into useful information.
For more information, visit www.pcigeomatics.com.

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Press Contact

Alysia Vetter
Marketing Manager

Tel: 819-770-0022, Ext. 233
Fax: 819-770-0098
Email: vetter@pcigeomatics.com
Web: www.pcigeomatics.com

PCI Geomatics Releases Upgrade to Geomatica Software

Richmond Hill, Ontario – February 22 2010: PCI Geomatics, a world leading developer of geo-imaging software and systems today announced the availability of an upgrade to its remote sensing and image processing software Geomatica®. Version 10.3.1 is the latest release available which includes imaging tools for GIS as well as additional satellite and aerial sensor support.

Satellites fully supported in this release include THEOS (Thailand Earth Observation System), GOSAT (Greenhouse Gases Observing Satellite), and WorldView-2. Also included is support for ADS40 and ADS80 Digital Aerial Camera systems from Leica Geosystems.

Further colour balancing techniques have been added to the OrthoEngine automatic mosaicking tool, and an improved mosaicking process flow has been added to the EASI environment.

“PCI Geomatics prides itself on being the leader in sensor support, and this release does not disappoint our users,” said Peter Hazlett, Product Manager for Geomatica at PCI Geomatics.
“By expanding our desktop software offering to include imaging tools for GIS, we are enabling all geo-professionals to take full advantage of imagery in their work.”

In addition, Geomatica 10.3.1 is now supported by Windows 7® Operating System.

For more information on the new features of Geomatica 10.3.1, please click here www.pcigeomatics.com/updates.

About PCI Geomatics

PCI Geomatics is a world leading developer of software and systems for geo-imaging solutions. Since 1982, we have specialized in remote sensing, digital photogrammetry, spatial analysis, cartographic production, automated production systems, image management and on demand mapping solutions. PCI Geomatics' advanced software systems address a wide variety of industry applications including the environment, agriculture, security and intelligence, aerospace & defense, and satellite receiving stations. We have the expertise and know-how to turn images into useful information.For more information, visit http://www.pcigeomatics.com/.


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Press Contact

Alysia Vetter
Marketing Manager

Tel: 819-770-0022, Ext. 233
Fax: 819-770-0098
Email: vetter@pcigeomatics.com
Web: http://www.pcigeomatics.com/

PCI Geomatics Participates in Ontario Olympic Pavilion

Richmond Hill, Ontario – February 12, 2010: PCI Geomatics is pleased to announce that it will be participating in Ontario House at Canada's 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games. Ontario House is hosted by the Province of Ontario and will showcase made-in-Ontario technologies, products and services.

PCI Geomatics is an Ontario based developer of award winning software and systems used for processing satellite and aerial imagery. With a 28 year history of providing geo-imaging solutions to more than 135 countries, PCI Geomatics’ clients include government departments and agencies, municipalities, research centres, universities and private enterprises.

“This is a wonderful opportunity bestowed upon Ontario technology companies and we are delighted to be affiliated with the successful organizations taking part in Ontario House,” said Dr. Robert Moses, President and CEO of PCI Geomatics.

Ontario House is in close proximity to BC Place and Canada Hockey Place with an estimated pedestrian traffic flow of over 75,000 visitors per day; it will feature live entertainment and interactive activities throughout the 17 day Olympic period.

For more information on the Ministry of Tourism, Ontario 2010 Olympic Secretariat, please visit http://www.ontario.ca/olympicgames2010


About PCI Geomatics

PCI Geomatics is a world leading developer of software and systems for geo-imaging solutions. Since 1982, we have specialized in remote sensing, digital photogrammetry, spatial analysis, cartographic production, automated production systems, image management and on demand mapping solutions. PCI Geomatics' advanced software systems address a wide variety of industry applications including the environment, agriculture, security and intelligence, aerospace & defense, and satellite receiving stations. We have the expertise and know-how to turn images into useful information.

For more information, visit http://www.pcigeomatics.com/.


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Press Contact

Alysia Vetter
Marketing Manager
Tel: 819-770-0022, Ext. 233
Fax: 819-770-0098
Email: vetter@pcigeomatics.com
Web: http://www.pcigeomatics.com/