Macsimum Migration Kit: GIS software, part IV

Posted by Dennis Sellers Apr 25, 2008 at 1:08am

(For those new to the column, Macsimum Migration is our term for companies moving from Wintel machines to Macs—or at least adding or increasing the number of Macs they use. A Macsimum Migration Kit is an overview of Mac OS products for a particular occupation, such as dentistry, accounting, etc.) This week we’re offering our final part (part four) of our four-part look at GIS (geographic information system) software for the Mac OS. Part one can be found here, part two here and part three here.

PassagePlus

PassagePlus is a boat navigation application aimed at the weekend coastal sailor. Compatible with the United Kingdom Hydrographic Office’s Admiralty ARCS charts and Land Information New Zealand’s NZMariner charts, it enables you to do passage planning and live navigation of small boats, sail or power, using either GPS or traditional techniques.

PreFlight

PreFlight is used to plan general aviation VFR-flights. You can create your routes by directly entering waypoints, by clicking on a vector graphic based on elevation data (1-km-resolution) or by clicking on scanned maps. A database for Europe, as well as German ICAO-maps make up the base equipment, that can be extended by yourself. PreFlight creates a plan to execute the flight, calculates fuel consumption, take-off and landing distances and provides a flight plan. A GPS-interface allows transmission of routes and makes possible moving map mode.

ProAtlasW Map of Japan

ProAtlasW Map of Japan offers maps of Japan on DVD. Users can send the positional information to a cell phone and PDA. The street address/house number finding feature enables enhanced operation. The memo function allows link of information and point; also, it’s possible to show the weather forecast.

RINEX Utilities

RINEX Utilities for MATLAB lets you read and write RINEX formatted data from the GPS and GLONASS satellites of the US and Russian federal governments.

RiverTools

RiverTools is a GIS application for the analysis and visualization of digital terrain, watersheds and river networks. One of its features is the ability to rapidly extract drainage network patterns and analyze hydrologic data from large DEMs (digital elevation models). With RiverTools you can perform start-to-finish analyses of watersheds and river networks, from DEM mosaicking to publication-quality graphics, in a fraction of the time it would take with less-specialized GIS software. A wide variety of terrain data formats are supported.

Road Trip Effect

Road Trip Effect lets you generate animated trails on maps in QuickTime format. Trails can be layered to allow complex actions by a limitless number of agents. Road Trip Effect, available in standard and pro editions, comes with many preset icons and maps for faster work, yet is fully customizable.

Route 66

Route 66 makes a variety of CD & DVD-ROM titles for navigation purposes.

RouteBuddy

RouteBuddy is a GPS-enabled mapping application for Mac OS X. You can connect Garmin USB devices to your Mac and synchronize waypoints, routes and tracks with or navigate with your GPS connected to your Mac. By bringing high-precision vector maps to Apple’s unique platform, RouteBuddy will take full advantage of native Mac OS X technologies to develop new Map and GIS solutions for Mac users. Maps.

Special Regions

Special Regions allows you to select different locations on a map of the Earth for different time periods and change the information which is collected by the Global Institute for Space Studies (GISS).

Strabo Photogrammetry

Strabo Photogrammetry is a digital photogrammetry suite, integrated in Orbit GIS.

SubRosa DesktopEarth3D

SubRosa DesktopEarth3D is software for visualizing Earth. It uses a combination of satellite imagery and calculated data to provide real time views of the entire globe. DesktopEarth changes the wallpaper on your Mac to show the globe in real-time.

Swiss Map 25

Swiss Map 25 includes the National Maps 1:25,000 and 1:500,000, as well as the the complete official Swiss footpath network, which can be used to calculate elevation profiles and walking times for selected routes as required. It’s also possible to exchange data with Garmin and Magellan GPS receivers by means of the USB interface. Castles and other heritage areas can be displayed on the map along with the opportunity to call up further information. Up-to-date information about holiday destinations, hotels, events and excursions can also be called from the map via the Internet. There’s also a Swiss Map 50 version.

Terrabrowser

Terrabrowser is an Internet browser for satellite photos and topographical maps with built-in support for Garmin GPS receivers.

TNT

The TNT line of products includes: one for publishing geospatial information which has been put together using a professional TNTmips system; a geospatial editing package for the creation and updating of geospatial information; an integrated geospatial information system for the processing of raster, vector, CAD, TIN and database information; and an integrated geospatial information viewing package which allows the user to import and view a number of different geospatial data formats.

TOPO

TOPO for Macintosh is a topographical map viewing application for use with regional map CD-ROMs.

Travelog

Travelog lets you view and mark anywhere on the world map. You can capture detailed logs and add photos for a given location. You can also play a slideshow of your journeys in full-screen mode accompanied by music. It’s a GIS and mapping application that runs on Mac OS X 10.4 or higher.

For an in-depth round-up of Mac products, go to the Macintosh Products Guide.

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