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SpatialNews.com Press Release
Arctic Slope Regional Corp. Management Services Congratulates USDA Foreign Agricultural Service
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Greenbelt, MD, 11 June 2007 — Arctic Slope Regional Corporation Management Services (ASRC MS) extends congratulations to the 2007 recipient of the ‘ESRI Special Achievement in GIS,’ awarded to the United State Department of Agriculture, Foreign Agricultural Service (USDA FAS) for their outstanding contribution with Crop Explorer web portal. This award is being given to ESRI user sites around the world in recognition of their outstanding work in the GIS field. The USDA FAS, Crop Explorer web portal was selected to receive this prize from over 100,000 ESRI user sites worldwide.
“It is my pleasure to congratulate the joint USDA FAS and ASRC MS Crop Explorer teams on their efforts in making Crop Explorer a world-class web portal,” stated Tim Lewis, President, ASRC MS.
The USDA FAS developed Crop Explorer in 2000 as a deliverable for the Hurricane Mitch and Georges Reconstruction project. This project was undertaken by the USDA in response to the devastating Hurricane Mitch which made landfall in Honduras November 1998. In its reconstruction efforts, USDA identified several shortcomings in agricultural infrastructural information, one of which was near real-time crop condition information. Crop Explorer was designed to provide near real-time information regarding crop condition for the affected countries — Honduras and Nicaragua. The original design goal of Crop Explorer was to provide data already accessible by FAS’s crop analysts to a broader public. Public access is through the Internet. Although product types were limited at the beginning, FAS has sustained the development of Crop Explorer beyond the Hurricane Mitch reconstruction project.
The site can be accessed through http://www.pecad.fas.usda.gov/cropexplorer/ . To learn more about Crop Explorer and ASRC MS, please stop by the Global Marketing Insights, Inc. booth #1807 at the 27th Annual ESRI International User Conference.
Currently, there are 39 FAS global agriculture crop condition products. Additionally Crop Explorer has evolved into a web portal consisting of internal and external linkages. Internal linkages connect directly to map and chart product types; the Commodity Intelligence Reports; the World Agricultural Production (WAP) circular; Production Briefs; FAS Attaché Reports; and the FAS Production, Supply and Distribution (PSD) database. External linkages retain the Crop Explorer interface while connecting to NASA/MODIS Rapid Response; NASA/MODIS NDVI at UMD; NASA/Global Reservoir; USGS/GLOVIS; TRMM-MPA; and the FEWS network.
Brad Doorn, remote sensing coordinator for the FAS stated, “I am delighted to represent Crop Explorer to receive this award in front of a global audience of over 13,000 GIS technology professionals. Crop Explorer has proven to be a tool which is utilized worldwide to assist in making critical agricultural decisions. I applaud the efforts of all the individuals whose dedication and focus made Crop Explorer a reality with a special thanks to Bob Baldwin, Curt Reynolds, and Robert Tetrault from USDA FAS, Crop technical data delivery specialists for Crop Explorer from ASRC MS, and our partners at NASA and the University of Maryland.”
The ESRI 2007 SAG award will be presented at a special ceremony on Wednesday, June 20th, from 3:30 p.m.-5:30 p.m. in Hall A in the San Diego Convention Center. This special event is open to all registered attendees of the conference. Once again ESRI will be showcasing all SAG award winners and their applications on the ESRI Web site at www.esri.com/sag with the goal of featuring the award winners and their contributions in GIS to the global community.
About USDA FAS
USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) has the primary responsibility for USDA’s international activities—market development, trade agreements and negotiations, and the collection and analysis of statistics and market information. As such a primary mission of FAS is to target, collect, analyze, and disseminate timely, objective, useful, and cost-effective global crop condition and agricultural production information. The purpose is to provide unbiased commodity estimates and forecasts to create a marketing edge for U.S. producers in world markets. For more information contact Brad Doorn, Technical Remote Sensing Coordinator at Brad.Doorn@usda.gov or call 202-690-0131.
About ASRC MS
Established in 1972 Arctic Slope Regional Corporation provides a wide range of capabilities in the commercial and government sectors with lines of business in: Aerospace, Base and Range Operations, Construction, Security, Engineering, Professional Services, Communications, Information Technology Services, Field Services and GIS and Geospatial Services. ASRC MS is responsible for the operation and development of the Crop Explorer site in coordination with the USDA FAS team. For more information contact Don Brown, Program Manager, ASRC MS at donald.brown@asrcms.com or call 202-720-6593.
About Global Marketing Insights, Inc.
Established in 1997, Global Marketing Insights, Inc. provides a wide range of business planning and market research services, including targeted product/service market studies and competitive market research. Global Marketing Insights, Inc. provides strategic planning and market research to government agencies and private sector firms seeking to develop their geospatial business interests. Global Marketing Insights Inc. is a sub contractor to ASRC MS providing market research and business planning capabilities. For more information contact Sherry Loy, Marketing Manager at sherrlyloy@globalinsights.com or call 216-525-0600.
About ESRI
Founded in 1969, ESRI is the leading developer of GIS software with more than 300,000 clients worldwide. ESRI software is used in all 200 of the largest cities in the United States and in more than 60 percent of counties and municipalities nationwide. Headquartered in California, ESRI has regional offices throughout the United States, international distributors in more than 90 countries, and more than 1,700 business partners. ESRI’s goal is to develop comprehensive tools that enable users to efficiently manage, use, and serve geographic information to make a difference in the world around them. ESRI also provides consulting, implementation, and technical support services. ESRI can be found on the Web at www.esri.com . ESRI, the ESRI globe logo, GIS by ESRI, www.esri.com, and @esri.com are trademarks, registered trademarks, or service marks of ESRI in the United States, the European Community, or certain other jurisdictions. Other companies and products mentioned herein are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective trademark owners.
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