All posts by Gavin Schrock
Sputnik and Infrastructure
Today is the 60th anniversary of an event that both enlightened, and, in some ways, frightened the world. But it greatly inspired the worlds of science, engineering, and education. And it also sparked, arguably more than any other single event, developments for the geospatial professions and industries. On October 4th, 1957, a tiny polished metal...
Wind, Water, and Fire: Hurricane Response in the Geospatial Community
Response, recovery, and rebuilding in the aftermath of hurricanes Harvey and Irma and the unprecedented wildfire season in the West may be the largest combined U.S. disaster response to date. The impacts to Texas, Florida, the broader Gulf Coast region, and many western states will require large national and international effort. We are all involved;...
GPR Revisited
Arrays of multiple sensors and advances in processing breathe new life into the field of ground penetrating radar. We continue to struggle with the opaque elements of our world. To be able to penetrate the opaqueness of night, fog, clouds, and the ocean’s depths is a relative snap compared to the challenges of seeing downward into...
Fire, Ice, and Latitude in Ecuador
A team of U.S. surveyors visited Ecuador to use real-time PPP to pay homage to the 18th-century “Geodesic Mission to the Equator,” one of the most difficult and significant missions in the history of surveying and geodesy. Pictured above: The team of U.S. surveyors on the 2017 Ecuador visit (from back to front): Rich Leu, John...
Behind the Big Eye of the SX10: Trimble, Danderyd, Sweden
A visit to Trimble’s engineering and production center in Danderyd, Sweden, reveals the story of the SX10’s development. As surveyors, we purchase and use some of the most sophisticated instruments of any field-oriented profession. Such sophistication yields incredible precision, accuracy, reliability, and flexibility, and, as would be expected, can carry hefty price tags. With such...
The Unthinkable and the Thinkable
The following is the editorial for the July print issue of xyHt magazine: If we completely dismiss a notion as unthinkable, we might find ourselves ill prepared should the notion become an eventuality. This applies to how we might view the status of our professions and how we fit into the markets we serve. Is...
