A VerySpatial Podcast | Discussions on Geography and Geospatial Technologies

News:

• AI
• • WorldLabs Atlas AI model
  • IBM and NASA Lunar AI model
  • NVIDIA Acquiring Hugging Face
  • Google releases WeatherNext3 AI model
• UN Endorses Equal Earth projection; France goes for Eckert IV
• Trimble releases SketchUp Pro Civil Contractor

Web corner

• David Whyte poetry maps

Topic:

• Laura and Nic of Environmental Professional Radio

Events:

• R-Con 2026: 12-15 October, Boise
• Tolkien Conference Switzerland: 13 March, 2027: Lucerne "Maps and Landscapes in Tolkien's Middle-earth"

Music: Chasing Nothing by Borrowed Wings

News:

• NASA-ISRO NISAR SAR mission data products now available
• Geopera 2026 Bhote Koshe Flood open satellite data
• Cornell University's Cool Trees project releases first "Wall to Wall" map of city trees
• Utility of GNIS continues to be eroded
• Geo Week event scholarship

Web corner:

• MiniTokyo3D

Topic:

• Andres with Bootcamp GIS
• Summers and Mary of BlueRaster

Events:

• 2026 SWAAG Annual Meeting - September 30, Lubbock, TX
• Middle Atlantic Regional Division Annual Meeting - November 20, Belair, MD
• 2026 Annual Meeting of SEDAAG - November 22-23, Tuscaloosa, AL

Music: "It's All Wrong (It's Alright)" by Cardboard Cat

News:

• GOES 19 outage
• Suomi NPP data product delivery to end on November 1, 2026
• Intermap acquires PCI Geomatics
• FCC aims to ban more drones
• Internet famous bald eagle Jackie passes away

Web corner:

• https://miniskyline.com/

Topic:

• Conversations from the Esri UC
  • Map of Life
  • CivQuest

Events:

• QGIS User Conference: 5-6 October, LAAX, Switzerland
• European Association of Aerial Surveying Industries (EAASI): 17-20 November, Alicante, Spain

News:

• Mozambique Unveils Geospatial Platform to Accelerate Broadband Coverage
• SparkPNT
• OpenConstellation 1.0
• SkyFi Launches MCP

Web corner

• CyArk Tapestry

Topic:

• Interview with Abi Wiedersberg and Will Mortenson of Overture Maps.

Events:

• RGS-IBG Annual International Conference: 1-4 September, London
• GIS-Pro 2026: 12-15 October, Milwaukee
• AGU Fall Meeting 2026: 7–11 December, San Francisco

Music:

• "It Was Worth It In The End" by Vian Izak

Web corner:

• Destination Earth

Topic:

• Questions we currently have about Geography/geospatial

Music:

• Around You (Ft. Alyssa) by REYUS

News:

• US Supreme Court rules that 4th Amendment includes location data
• National Geographic Museum of Exploration opens
• Explore the stars in VR
• ArcGIS Online June update
• Climate.us
• ECMWF releases earthkit 1.0
• Mapping underground fungi that help our planet
• Sentinel 1A mission ends
• Google Earth Pro desktop end of life

Web corner

• MapTap

News:

• DGEO at Clark
• SpatialSQL moves to general availability
• MCP expanding for geospatial
• Geoscientists map continent-sized geostructure under Antarctica
• Russian satellites jamming GPS signals

Web corner

• Mega geocache

Topic:

• Digital Earth/Gaussian Splats
  • Apple releases 3D Gaussian Splats
  • NYT R&D Guide to Gaussian Splats

Events:

• 2026 IEEE International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium, 9 - 14 August, Washington, D.C.
• Applied Geoinformatics for Society and Environment AGSE 2026, 21-25 September, Kumasi, Ghana
• Harvard Center for Geographic Analysis 20th Anniversary Conference, 2-3 October, Boston, MA

Music:

• "In This Together" by Neighbor

News:

• Upcoming unmanned NASA moon missions in 2026
• Spexi and Niantic Spatial deliver a drone-to-3D pipeline
• Long Island Sound Lawn Fertilizer Pollution Tool

Web corner

• UK Geography New National Curriculum Change

Topic:

• Thoughts on The GIS Industry Has Already Split in Two

Events:

• Commercial UAV Expo: 1-3 September, Las Vegas
• CaGIS Conference - 8-11 September, St. Louis
• NACIS: 21-24 October, Milwaukee
• GeoWeek 2027: 23-25 February, Salt Lake City call for speakers

Music: Pace by Brody Myles

News:

• Grass 8.5.0
• 2026 Canadian Census Soundtrack
• VertiGIS Acquires 1Spatial
• FME Flow and MCP

Web corner

• Historica AI Interactive Map

Topic:

• Amy Rock of the UCGIS @ AAG

Events:

• Global Public Health and Epidemiology Congress (G-PHEC 2026): 21 - 23 September, London,UK, and online
• 17th Conference on Spatial Information Theory (COSIT) - 22--25 September, York

Music:

• Those Days Were Ours by Saints of Valory

News:

• Sketchup, meet Claude
• ESA's Celeste in-orbit demonstrator transmits first signal
• The Map Shop Australia closing

Web corner:

• https://paleolatitude.org/

Topic:

• Pix4D @ AAG

Events:

• Commercial UAV Expo: 1-3 September, Las Vegas
• S+SNZ Conference 2026: 9-11 September, Auckland, NZ
• UAS Summit & Expo: 13-14 October, Grand Forks, ND