Towns conquer: a gamified application to collect geographical names (vernacular names/toponyms)

The traditional model for geospatial crowd sourcing asks the public to use their free time collecting geospatial data for no obvious reward. This model has shown to work very well on projects such as Open Street Map, but comes with some clear disadvantages such as reliance on small communities of ‘Neo-geographers’ and variability in quality and content of collected data. This project aims at tackling these problems by providing alternative motivation specifically a smartphone based computer game service. Geographical names (vernacular names/ toponyms) have been identified as potential targets as they are difficult to collect on a large scale and easy to collect locally, thus ideal for crowd sourcing. The data set will be a toponyms database provided by the Spanish National Geographic Institute (IGN Spain). A location based game is targeted as it is easy to guide data collection with in-game rewards (prizes, points, badges etc.). Android is chosen for its accessible API and wide use

Telescience testbed pilot program

The Universities Space Research Association (USRA), under sponsorship from the NASA Office of Space Science and Applications, is conducting a Telescience Testbed Pilot Program. Fifteen universities, under subcontract to USRA, are conducting a variety of scientific experiments using advanced technology to determine the requirements and evaluate the tradeoffs for the information system of the Space Station era. An interim set of recommendations based on the experiences of the first six months of the pilot program is presented

OSI-compatible protocols for mobile-satellite communications: The AMSS experience

The protocol structure of the international aeronautical mobile satellite service (AMSS) is reviewed with emphasis on those aspects of protocol performance, validation, and conformance which are peculiar to mobile services. This is in part an analysis of what can be learned from the AMSS experience with protocols which is relevant to the design of other mobile satellite data networks, e.g., land mobile