Recent announcement from USGS:

OrbView-3 satellite images collected around the world between 2003 and 2007 by Orbital Imaging Corporation (now GeoEye) at up to one-meter resolution can now be downloaded at no cost through USGS EarthExplorer.

“This is a significant addition to the USGS archive and a valuable resource for the global science community,” said Matthew Larsen, Associate Director, Climate and Land Use Change. “Free access through the USGS archive amplifies the utility of the data, making it feasible for many researchers to study large areas at this level of accuracy.”

I took a quick peek at what is available for Cambodia (see graphic below). Would be nice to have more I suppose, but hey, better than nothing.

Orbview-3 Coverage Available for Cambodia

Here are the results of a short test of the satellite tracking by the Trimble R6 rover with GLONASS under forest canopy in Laos. At the time, we were tracking about 4-5 of the GPS satellites exmitting L2C signals, which better tracking performance than regular L2 under adverse conditions.

Forest Site with Undergrowth Cleared

Site 1 - Relatively Open - PDOP 1.6

Site 2 - Open Canopy - PDOP 1.6

Site 3 - Closed Canopy - PDOP 3.4 - Not bad !

Skyplot from Trimble Planning Utility for same time.

I initially got pretty excited by this discovery on http://earthexplorer.usgs.gov/ as some of the imagery is 2-4 ft in resolution and dates from the mid-60′s to mid-70′s. It was de-classified in two batches; 1996 and 2002. However, it seems that most of the imagery is quite cloudy (coincidence ?) and there is not much of the 2-4 ft stuff. Additional frustrations are that is costs money (alebeit a small amount – around $30) and cannot be downloaded. But anyone determined enough should be able to their hands on this.

I’m sure there a much larger collections that are not yet de-classified, covering the entire Khmer Rouge period in Cambodia. I wonder why.

Sceenshot of Black and white KH-7 High Resolution Surveillance Photo North of Phnom Penh. Image Date: 1967/05/24. Camera Resolution: 2 to 4 feet

Screen shot of image covering parts of Kampong Thom and Kampong Cham. Acquisition Date: 17-JAN-76. Camera Resolution: 20 to 30 feet.

Camko City Satellite Time Series

This time series of Satellite images in Google Earth show the development of Camko City on what was once Boeung Pong Peay. The site lies on the northern edge of Phnom Penh city and is slated for completion in 2018.

You can explore the recent history of Phnom Penh via satellite imagery using the button in Google Earth.

You may not know it, but if you are in Phnom Penh, you may be sitting below river level RIGHT NOW ! Of course, the level is subsiding and 1.55m below flood level so the risk is very low. The map below shows the water level around the independence monument if flood defenses were breached.

For more information about this map, please feel free to Contact Us

Flood Risk near Independence Monument, Phnom Penh

Here is an interesting comparison in the change of land use in Pailin in western Cambodia over the last 20 years.

Landsat Image from 2001 (30m resolution)

Below is an image from 2011, taken by the RapidEye satellite. Nearly all forested areas have been converted to agriculture, except the minefield along the Cambodian-Thai border on the left of the image. Dark patches indicate remaining forest.

RapidEye Satellite Image (5m resolution) from 2011

I drove past this sign on National Road Number 2, which details the plans for Boeung Tumpun, including construction of new roads, canals and reduction in the lake area.

Boeung Tumpun Development Sign, NR2

Based on this sign, I’ve drawn up a rough sketch of the boundaries, which can be viewed in the context of the current ground situation in Google Maps: http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msid=205681469191653522990.0004a8dd06976a6aab585&msa=0&ll=11.511313,104.928017&spn=0.047519,0.084543

Boeung Tumpun Development Map

1. Go to Start  >  Run, then  type “regedit”

2. Under Registry on the left hand side go to My Computer\HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\ESRI\Desktop 10.0″

3. Right click on “Desktop 10.0″ add new key “Common”

3 Right click on “Common” add new key “CodePage”

4 On Codepage key add new string value “dbfDefault”

5 Right click on string value “dbfDefault” modify it value field to “UTF-8″

Editing the Registry

6. Reopen Arcgis and then try to edit attribute table by typing Khmer character.

Khmer Unicode Map Labels

Commencing in December 2010, the Cambodia Land and Environment Atlas and Resource (CLEAR) has sought to compile the best available spatial information on agriculture, soils, climate, environment and land use in Cambodia. Project partners Aruna Technology, have been responsible to identifying and compiling relevant data and preparing it for publication. Project partners aWhere, based in the United States have been responsible for packaging the data into a spatial viewer that allows the interactive discovery and analysis of spatial information.

The product was officially launched by the Australian Ambassador to Cambodia, H.E. Penny Richards on the 10th June 2011. The event was well attended by nearly 100 representatives from the government, NGO’s and the private sector. CLEAR is available free of charge from Aruna Technology. Please contact us to obtain a DVD copy of the application. You can also read more about CLEAR here: http://clear.awhere.com/Homepage.aspx

Australian Ambassador, HE Penny Richards at the Launch of CLEAR

CLEAR DVD, available from Aruna Technology

An excerpt of the press release from the Australian Embassy is below.

Around 130,000 Cambodian farmers will benefit from Australia’s five year Cambodia Agricultural Value Chain (CAVAC) program which began in 2010. The program will help boost farmers’ incomes by increasing the value of agricultural production, with a focus on rice, fruit and vegetable farming in Kampong Thom, Kampot and Takeo provinces. It will also provide employment for the poor.

The CAVAC program has supported the development of the Cambodian Land and Environment Atlas and Resource (CLEAR) which was launched today [10 June 2011]. CLEAR is a spatial database which will allow researchers and planners to analyse socioeconomic, climatic, soil and land-use data to support decisions on how to improve agricultural productivity and manage natural resources.

CLEAR was developed through a partnership with two private companies, using data contributed by the Royal Government of Cambodia. This is an example of how the CAVAC Program works with the Royal Government of Cambodia and private companies that are committed to improving long term support to rural farmers.
H.E. Ms Penny Richards, the Australian Ambassador to Cambodia, said “Australia has been supporting Cambodia’s farmers for 20 years and our assistance has contributed to rice yields more than doubling during this time. In 2011, a more dynamic and complex agriculture sector, with emerging markets for agricultural inputs, such as seeds and fertiliser, and opportunities for processing and export, requires a different type of support.

eTrex30 - maps, altimeter and compass

Garmin have announced a new lineup of eTrex series GPS with

• an enlarged 2.2 in display
• 25 hour battery life
• worldwide basemap
• expandable memory
• wireless data sharing

Please contact us for further information an pricing

eTrex10 - base model