Episode 1 of the Penn State Public Broadcasting’s (PSPB) four-part online video series, “The Geospatial Revolution Project,” is now available in its entirety or in shorter chapters at Penn State Public Broadcasting’s website, geospatialrevolution.psu.edu. The 13-minute episode, which is divided into four chapters, begins with an overview and moves into how GPS works. Following a brief history of the evolution of mapping, the episode wraps with the practical and human application of crisis mapping and “crowd sourcing,” and uses the earthquake in Haiti as the case study.

According to PSPB, “The mission of “The Geospatial Revolution Project” is to expand public knowledge about the history, applications, related privacy and legal issues, and the potential future of location-based technologies.”  The remaining three episodes, to be released over the next five months, will cover timely topics on geospatial applications, privacy and legal issues, civic engagement, and more.  It is expected that K-12 teachers and post-secondary educators will use these films in the classroom to help explain the location-based technologies and applications that influence our lives.

ASPRS, the ASPRS Foundation, and individual ASPRS members have been heavily involved in the evolution of “The Geospatial Revolution Project,” working with Penn State Public Broadcasting to help identify topics to cover, people to interview, and potential funding sources. “ASPRS, working through the ASPRS Foundation, is very proud to be associated with this important effort, which grew out of an earlier proposal to document the history of photogrammetry and remote sensing in the U.S.” said James Plasker, ASPRS Executive Director. “The original proposal, developed by ASPRS Fellow Member Dr. Alan Voss, was extremely powerful in concept, but needed the professional oversight of an experienced film production team; the group assembled by Penn State is outstanding, and the project concept has since evolved under their leadership to a landmark outreach opportunity for all of the geospatial science community.”  

Sponsors of “The Geospatial Revolution Project” include: the ASPRS Foundation, Booz, Allen, Hamilton, DigitalGlobe, ESRI, GeoEye, Harris, National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, Navteq, and Northrop Grumman.