Open Source GIS

In the previous lab we learned how to work with ArcGIS where we created a digital surface map that you can find in the post below. Building off that, we were given the opportunity to learn from Dr. Christina Hupy about open source QGIS software. The following questions and answers outline what we did during our tutorial and how proprietary software in GIS differentiates from open source QGIS software.

Introduction

• What is GIS? That is, is it just software. What did Dr. Christina Hupy stress when she spoke about what defines what exactly constitutes GIS?
• GIS Stands for geographic information system and provides structure to manage, convey, and analyze many forms of data. GIS allows the user to more effectively investigate different layers of information making use of maps and 3D models to help identify patterns and solve problems. 
• What makes open source GIS (QGIS) different than proprietary (ESRI) GIS?
• Any software that is open source is collaboratively built, developed, and tested by a large community of contributors. Open source GIS is able to grow a lot faster and more efficiently than proprietary GIS because there are no business related loops to jump through.
• What are advantages and disadvantages between the two?
• The main advantage of open source software as a whole is that it is able to be developed collectivley and quickly to meet a wide array of needs. Open source software allows the users to control the development of where their needs truly are. Using open source software in the drone industry is crucial because of the rate of technological advancements moving so rapidly. A disadvantage of open source software is that there are no true admins that can ensure that the software is running correctly. An advantage of ESRI GIS is that it is a lot smoother around the edges and allows for quick understanding of the software. A proprietary GIS would have problem solving teams to deal with any problems but this is also a disadvantage because the software has to generate revenue to be able to pay these people.
• Why is Open Source GIS important to the UAS industry? That is, speculate upon your own experiences and goals to relate how this software could open doors and markets where proprietary GIS keeps doors closed.
• Technology is always changing, evolving, and improving. Open source GIS follows the same path of this constant development which makes it extremely important to the industry as a whole. Proprietary GIS Software will always be one step behind the curve due to updates needing to be approved and implemented.

Method/Discussion

• The creation of a hill shaded digital surface map in QGIS had many steps. For example, at first we had to make sure the appropriate plug ins were enabled then we added the data into a new layer. Going into layer properties allowed us to select a color ramp and select the minimum and maximum values. We were able to adjust the transparency and create a hillshade effect. Dr. Christina Hupy patiently walked us through the creation of a false color image by stacking different layers and adjusting band numbers to create a false color infrared image.

Conclusions

• Draw upon the previous lab and compare your experience between Arc Desktop and QGIS.
• There are quite a few differences between the two programs. Personally I had an easier time getting through and creating the false color image with a few pointers. At first glance the proprietary software looks simple enough, but I ran into numerous problems with the tool box disappearing and commands simply taking way too much time to load or not even load at all. QGIS for the most part ran very smoothly and I was extremely impressed by a software built by people coming together from all over.
• Draw upon the lab examples, and some of the plug ins you were shown to link how this could relate to UAS data, and perhaps even your final project.
• My final project requires me to analyze data that I get from flying over ponds and I think I could utilize many of the tools and plug ins when creating a map for a potential customer, 

1. 1.       Prior to this activity, how would you rank yourself in knowledge about the topic. (1-No Knowledge at all, 2-Very Little Knowledge, 3-Some knowledge, 4-A good amount of knowledge, 5-I knew all about this)
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2. 2.       Following this activity, how would you rate the amount of knowledge you have on the topic (1- I don’t really know enough to talk about the topic, 2- I know enough to explain what I did, 3-I know enough to repeat what I did, 4-I know enough to teach someone else, 5- I am an expert)
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3. 3.       Did the hands-on approach to this activity add to how much you were able to learn (1-Strongly Disagree, 2-Disagree, 3-No real opinion, 4-Agree, 5-Strongly Agree)
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What types of learning strategies would you recommend to make the activity even better?
  Allow us to watch someone walk through the creation of one of these maps without having to constantly have our eyes flick from our computer to the presentation. At some points I fell behind and became lost because I had missed one of the steps.

Map Creation

Introduction

• Why are proper cartographic skills essential in working with UAS data?

• UAS data is meaningless without properly conveying it in a map to express a situation. It is critical to express UAS data in an accurate way making sure that it is both clear and organized. Cartographic skills are necessary to convert data into a meaningful map to show the true purpose.

• What are the fundamentals of turning either a drawing or an aerial image into a map?

• The fundamentals of turning a drawing or aerial image into a map stems from giving the audience a sense of what they are truly looking at in reference to symbols, scale, area of interest, and direction.

• What can spatial patterns of data tell the reader about UAS data? Provide several examples.

• Spacial patterns can allow the audience to uncover, dissect, and compare the data. Hill shading is one example that allows the reader to see different points of elevation as well as color mapping which allows the reader to pick up on specific areas of interest depending on what the cartographer is trying to show. Spacial patterns can show things like land erosion and even plant health.

• What are the objectives of this lab?

• The objectives of this lab were to familiarize the class with ArcGIS software such as ArcMap, ArcScene, and ArcCatalog. We learned as a class the tools required to effectively make a map using UAS data including the cartographic essentials needed to reference location and scale.

Methods

• What key characteristics should go into folder and file naming conventions?

• Some key characteristics that should go into folder and file naming conventions include the date, the name, and any other important identifiers. Folders should be specific and organized.

• Why is file management so key in working with UAS data?

• File management is so key in working with UAS data because the files can look pretty close to the same thing but when you look deeper the files are indeed very different sets of data. Keeping files managed in an organized fashion will indefinitely help with avoiding mistakes and finding files in a timely manner. 

• What key forms of metadata should be associated with every UAS mission?

• Key forms of metadata that should be associated with every UAS mission includes but is not limited to pilot name, date, conditions, location, altitude, platform used, and sensor used.

• What basemap did you use? Why?

• The basemap that I used was the light gray canvas because it gave insight to the audience by allowing them to see major cites while not jumbling up the map with unnecessary information.

• What is the difference between a DSM and DEM?

• DSM stands for digital surface model and it includes everything on the surface like man made objects. DEM stands for digital elevation model and it does not include objects on the surface but shows the elevation of terrain in reference to sea level.

• Descriptive statistics include Cell Size, Units, Projection, Highest Elevation, Lowest Elevation. Why are these important?

• These statistics are important because they allow the audience to properly analyze what is shown in the map and understand the information.

• What does hillshading do towards being able to visualize relief and topography.

• Hillshading is a very valuable tool that allows for the exaggeration of terrain to show differences in elevation. Hillshading allows the audience to better interpret the map by showing how the differences in the sunlight interacting with the surface.
• How does the orthomosaic relate to what you see in the shaded relief of the DSM?

• The orthomosaic shows specific objects and vegetation more clearly while adding shaded relief of the DSM shows differences related to color more vividly.

• What is the purpose of vertical exaggeration? 

• The purpose of vertical exaggeration is that it allows the audience to really visualize differences in the elevation of the terrain.

• What settings do you have for your data?

• For my data the settings for my data are all multiplied by 1.5 to allow for added emphasis.

• What color ramp did you use? Why?

• The color ramp I used when creating my map was the green to red which I inverted so that green was displaying lower elevation and red showed places that were higher.

• What are the advantages of using ArcScene to view UAS DSM data vs. the overhead shaded relief in ArcMap. What are the disadvantages?

• An advantage of using ArcSene is that it allows you to rotate the map in all directions allowing for different views of the 3D map to make differences more apparent. 

• Is this export a map? Why or why not?

• This is not an export map because it does not include any essential references like scale, symbols, or metadata.

Conclusion

• Summarize what makes UAS data useful as a tool to the cartographer and GIS user

• An unmanned aerial system can allow you to cover a lot of area a lot quicker than a manned aircraft with great resolution that you cannot get with a satellite.

• What limitations does the data have? What should the user know about the data when working with it?

• Limitations the data has would be that it can only be as good as the global positioning system's accuracy.

• Speculate what other forms of data this data could be combined with to make it even more useful.

• Different maps showing changes over time would be extremely useful.

Make sure you answer the questions for your ‘Evaluation’ page:
1. 1. Prior to this activity, how would you rank yourself in knowledge about the topic. (1-No Knowledge at all, 2-Very Little Knowledge, 3-Some knowledge, 4-A good amount of knowledge, 5-I knew all about this)
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2. 2. Following this activity, how would you rate the amount of knowledge you have on the topic (1- I don’t really know enough to talk about the topic, 2- I know enough to explain what I did, 3-I know enough to repeat what I did, 4-I know enough to teach someone else, 5- I am an expert)
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3. 3. Did the hands-on approach to this activity add to how much you were able to learn (1-Strongly Disagree, 2-Disagree, 3-No real opinion, 4-Agree, 5-Strongly Agree)
4
What types of learning strategies would you recommend to make the activity even better?
Possibly giving us different sets of data over time of an area would allow us to analyze changes.

Ethics and Morality involving Drone Strikes

Ethics and Morality involving Drone Strikes

During the past years drones have slowly been incorporated into warfare most namely for strikes against terrorist organizations. There are many advantages to using this new technology over typical reconnaissance and weapons. Drones can observe from extremely high altitudes and carefully watch a target for hours or even days on end going unnoticed. Without a trace they can take immediate action should an opportunity present itself for a strike without putting a pilot in danger being that they are controlling the system from thousands of miles away. Before the United States was brutally attacked by Al Qaeda in a number of instances including the tragedy of 9/11, there was a ban on Assassinations in Executive Order 12333 Part 2.1. On September 17th, 2001 President George W. Bush signed a CIA Memorandum of Notification modifying the ban on assassinations to specifically empower the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to use lethal covert action to disrupt Al Qaeda. This memorandum authorized the Central Intelligence Agency to unleash the lethal General Atomics MQ-1 Predator armed with AGM-114 Hellfire missiles developed for precision strikes and have since been used in a number of targeted killings of high-profile individuals. While many of these attacks have gone on without casualties, the fact that it is possible to unintentionally have civilian casualties brings up the issue of morality. 

 In the book, “Predator: The Secret Origins of the Drone Revolution” by Richard Whittle, there are a number of issues brought up encompassing the idea of ethics involving targeted killings. Drones have been slowly adopted since the simple beginnings of radio controlled aircraft during World War II. The Army for years had been purchasing propeller driven remote control target drones even adding a film camera to them for photo reconnaissance and decoys to fool air defenses. The Air Force had shown no interest in drones until the Soviet Union shot down one of their U-2 reconnaissance jets. Another U-2 reconnaissance jet was shot down over Cuba but this was a lethal attack that killed the pilot. After these two spy planes were downed it sparked an interest in the United States Air Force to start looking into drones. While these fireflies were being used in great numbers more than half of them were shot down or crashed. With these remotely piloted vehicles being so unreliable it only further hardened the Air Force’s culture of holding aircraft with pilots aboard to the highest level of attention. 

Once Karem  developed a drone with a reasonable endurance time that was actually reliable, the military actually began to pay attention to unmanned aircraft. The Army was not doing so well in regards to Aquila drone so funding was added to help aid Karem with his Amber project. This promised to equip the amber with a number of different payloads including daylight and infrared cameras. Turning this project lethal, Karem also introduced an Amber with a missle shaped nose to carry a warhead to allow the military to recognize all of its potential. Even with the great feats in innovation that Karem developed with Leading Systems, the company went bankrupt. General Atomics acquired not only the assets of Leading Systems but also Karem himself setting up the company to make their mark in the drone revolution. When the Pentagon awarded General Atomics the contract to build the MQ-1 Predator a new era was started. After demonstrating the Predator’s capabilities it was commissioned to Afghanistan to hunt for Osama Bin Laden.

The first big win came when the Predator was successfully able to identify a tall man in white robes emerge from a building around Osama Bin Laden’s residence. With no question that this was the target the summer project was geared towards finding. With no cruise missiles deployed after spotting Osama Bin Laden a lot of people were upset that no action was made after the target was spotted. The Predator’s flights over Afghanistan proved it’s worth significantly in being a revolutionary eye in the sky but there were a number of calls for it to become more than that. Air Force General John Jumper was in the works to arm the Predator. 

While guided missiles have been around for awhile they have not been perfected. In April 1999 two guided missiles struck a passenger train killing many civilians and a need for a better alternative was introduced. A major legal issue encompassing the Intermediate Range Nuclear Forces Treaty was brought to Jumper’s attention. A uling came about stating that the Predator was acceptable and did not violate the Intermediate Range Nuclear Forces Treaty. After the CIA and NSC had been impressed by the the summer project’s Predator video of Osama Bin Laden they wanted to send armed Predators to Afghanistan. The attack on USS Cole had sparked a deep yearning for retaliation and now that they were learning of intelligence that predicted Al Qaeda was planning another attack on the United States made arming the Predator that much more Achievable. When the Predator spotted Osama Bin Laden at Tarnak farms, the failure to act in sending deadly forces sparked outrage with a number of people. It is a possibility that had they fired a missile from a Predator that was armed the soldiers killed on  the USS Cole may have lived to see another day.

Once the Hellfire missiles were integrated with the Predator there was one more thing that needed to be included. A toggle switch needed to be applied so that someone other than a military pilot could take legal responsibility for the strike. The toggle switched was connected to the Predator’s flight control console and was named the monkey switch. Even the name of this raised concerns because basically it was saying that a monkey could facilitate a lethal attack. Politically speaking this makes it extremely easy for commanders to order strikes. 

Drones like the Predator can give extremely useful information and intelligence. This intelligence is presumably the most important key element in deciding if drone strikes are ethical. The predator has an extremely high endurance time making it very capable of deciding with the utmost certainty the right target is identified and acquired. Even with this decent amount of certainty, the topic of civilian casualties needs to be addressed more thoroughly. In the Epilogue of the book, Whittle highlights President Obama’s speech at the National Defense University, in Washington, D.C., on May 23, 2013, saying, “This new technology raises profound questions about who is targeted, and why; about civilian casualties, and the risk of creating new 

enemies; about the legality of such strikes under U.S. and international law; about accountability and morality.” But he also defended the tactic, saying drone strikes were legal under America’s “legitimate claim of self-defense” against Al Qaeda and other terrorists and were being conducted under “clear guidelines, oversight and accountability.” The new guidance on “Use of Force in Counterterrorism Operations” stipulated, among other things, that “lethal force” (drones strikes) would be used only when there was no alternative means of preventing a terrorist posing a “continuing, imminent threat” to “U.S. persons” and when there was a “near certainty” that no “non-combatants” would be injured or killed. The process used to reach those conclusions, remains cloaked in government secrecy. It seems like if this “near certainty” is actually a reliable figure for this plan to not harm any civilians, then what he is saying could hold up to the ethical values of the population. 

The epilogue of the book also highlights where drone technology might go in a study, “Unmanned Aircraft Systems Flight Plan, 2009–2047”—even forecast that by the one hundredth anniversary of the independent Air Force in 2047, the service would have armed drones automated with artificial intelligence capable of deciding on their own when and whether to attack a target. The report admitted, however, that the development of such a capability would be “contingent upon political and military leaders resolving legal and ethical questions” about such “lethal autonomy,” and the Air Force later backed away from the concept. This raises major concerns with where this technology is going. Equipping an unmanned aerial system with not only lethal weapons but also the decision making capabilities of artificial intelligence seems like a recipe for disaster. The capabilities of armed drones have already detached the act of killing to mearley pressing a button. Once you get rid of the already subtle involvement humans have in taking this action, you get rid of the humanity and accountability for the decision in general.