Open Source GIS in Linux

If we talk the application GIS that power full in the world for me is ArcGIS from ESRI. But this software is very expensive and to get some training in this application. So there is another alternatife open source? the answer is YES. But the true is every open source application have very dissapoint in one or two GIS component.
The GIS Component is :

1. Input Data
2. Manajemen Data
3. Manipulating and Analysis Data
4. Output Data

So this isthe best Major Favorite Open Source GIS Application :

1. GRASS

Good in Manipulating and Analysis Data Remote Sensing, lack on GUI













2. QGIS

Good in GUI and Input Data, lack on Output Data, and take some help addition other applications.










3. PostGIS and PostgreSQL

Application for Manajemen Data GIS











4. GPSBabel

To manage GPS Data










5. UDig

GIS Application that build from JAVA, niceGUI but running slowly











6. Thuban

Like QGIS, User Friendly Oriented











7. and many other you can see in http://opensourcegis.org

You can combine all of thats application above to make your GIS Software System rather than spent high cost to buy Commercial GIS. But if you need integrated and high demand on powerfull software, I just supposed advice ESRI as best GIS Application and use Windows as OS.

How To Install Google Earth in Ubuntu

Google Earth is one of famous free apllication that help people in GIS. You can view some information of data base georeference or just only view of surface region.
This is definition of Google Earth in Wikipedia :

Google Earth is a virtual globe program that was originally called Earth Viewer, and was created by Keyhole, Inc, a company acquired by Google in 2004. It maps the earth by the superimposition of images obtained from satellite imagery, aerial photography and GIS 3D globe. It is available under three different licenses: Google Earth, a free version with limited functionality; Google Earth Plus ($20 per year), which includes additional features; and Google Earth Pro ($400 per year), which is intended for commercial use.[1]

The product, renamed Google Earth in 2006, is currently available for use on personal computers running Microsoft Windows 2000, XP, or Vista, Mac OS X 10.3.9 and above, Linux (released on June 12, 2006), and FreeBSD. Google Earth is also available as a browser plugin (released on June 2, 2008) for Firefox, IE6, or IE7. In addition to releasing an updated Keyhole based client, Google also added the imagery from the Earth database to their web based mapping software. The release of Google Earth in mid 2006 to the public caused a more than tenfold increase in media coverage on virtual globes between 2006 and 2007,[2] driving public interest in geospatial technologies and applications.

Now how to install Google Earth in our Ubuntu. Just tpe this command in Terminal :

wget http://dl.google.com/earth/client/current/GoogleEarthLinux.bin ; chmod +x GoogleEarthLinux.bin ; sudo ./GoogleEarthLinux.bin

That command will automatically install google Earth in /opt/Google-Earth directory and make a shortcut in your desktop

Globe Weather from Satellite

As a government officer in Meteorological, I must concern in weather activities. Not only from observation whit many tool such as thermometer or barometer, but also from computerize technology. You can use remote sensing to observ the atmosfer, then you can reanalysis to make some information of weather that usefull for people. Today I want to learn you how to make some analysis with satellite imagery

The first way to analysis image satellite is we must have some image. You can use image from data format JPEG, raw format, or other. But I am only explain the data from JPEG. As your consider the weather satellite specially from Geostationary Satellite have 3 channel that common to analysis. There are infrared, water vapour, and visible.

If you live in Asia or Australia, you must get data from MTSAT or FengYun because only 2 this sattelite that cover your region. If you live in america, you can choose GOES Imagery. To download data from MTSAT you can go to www.jma.go.jp and if you want to see imagery from fengyun you can go to www.app.nea.gov.sg there you can download the IR, WV or VIS the inisial from the chanell.

Visible satellite images are photographs of the earth that provide information about cloud cover. Areas of white indicate clouds while shades of gray indicate generally clear skies. Visible images represent the amount of sunlight being scattered back into space by the clouds, aerosols, atmospheric gases, and the Earth's surface. Thicker clouds have a higher reflectivity (or albedo) and appear brighter than thinner clouds on a visible image. However, it is difficult to distinguish among low, middle, and high level clouds in a visible satellite image, since they can all have a similar albedo and for this distinction, infrared satellite images are useful.

Infrared satellite measurements are related to the brightness temperature. For an infrared picture, warmer objects appear darker than colder objects. Since temperature in the troposphere decreases with height, high level clouds are colder than low level clouds.

Images (a) and (b) are examples of visible and infrared satellite images respectively (valid for the same time).

(a)		Visible images measure scattered light and the example here depicts a wide line of clouds stretching across the southeastern United States and then northward into Ontario and Quebec.
(b)		In contrast, are related to brightness. Therefore, the clouds over Louisiana, Mississippi, and western Tennessee in image (a) appear gray in the infrared image (b) because of they are lower and have relatively warm cloud tops. The warmer the temperature, the lower the clouds, the darker the color.

From Alabama northeastward into New York is a region of deep convective clouds that appear bright white in both pictures. Because of their higher cloud tops, these clouds are bright white in both images because of their high reflectivity and extremely cold cloud top temperatures.

The clouds in Canada probably high thinner cirrus and cirrostratus clouds. They have lower reflectivities and therefore appear somewhat darker in the visible image (a) but because of their higher altitudes and colder cloud tops, they appear bright white in the infrared image (b).

Color enhancement is a procedure where specified levels of energy -- in this example, infrared energy -- are given a specific color. this makes locations with the desired energies easier to locate. Shades of yellow and orange represent infrared energy emissions consistent with strong thunderstorms. This is because infrared energy is proportional to brightness temperature, and the highest cloud tops are colder than those at lower altitudes (the highest cloud tops are typically associated with the strongest thunderstorms).

These images have been extracted from the same data, however color enhancement uses colors ranging from purple to red to make certain features stand out. Such features are not as easily observed in gray scale images.

Water vapor images are useful for pointing out regions of moist and dry air, which also provides information about the swirling middle tropospheric wind patterns and jet streams
Darker colors indicate drier air while the brighter the shade of white, the more moisture in the air. In the image above, very dry air was present from Oklahoma into Illinois (indicated by the dark colors). Bright white plumes stretching from Missouri to South Carolina indicate the very moist air associated with thunderstorms occurring in the area