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Every now and again, something comes along that
has far-reaching applications in a variety of fields. This is
the case with services provided by Crowsey Incorporated, of Charlottesville,
Virginia. Founded by Rick Crowsey in 1996, the company built
on his expertise in providing spatial information services and
products for the legal, medical, health, and financial fields.
Before starting his own firm, Rick Crowsey was an engineer, working
at NASA's Stennis Space Center on a variety of projects, including
the NASA Commercial Remote Sensing Program. Presently, Crowsey
Incorporated is a proud partner in NASA's Mississippi Space Commerce
Initiative, with research offices at the John C. Stennis Space
Center.
Commercial remote
sensing uses satellite imagery to provide valuable information
about the planet's features. By capturing light reflected from
the Earth's surface with cameras or sensor systems, usually mounted
on an orbiting satellite, data is obtained for business enterprises
with an interest in land feature distribution. Remote sensing
is practical when applied to large-area coverage, such as agricultural
monitoring, regional mapping, environmental assessment, and infrastructure
planning. For example, cellular service providers use satellite
imagery to select the most ideal location for a communication
tower.
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This
image depicts some of the geographic information system (GIS)
data used to support a case in which Crowsey Incorporated was
retained to provide mapping, analysis, and scenario visualization
of a collision between two vessels.The left-hand side of the
GIS shows the most probable track of the vessels as blue and
red lines with the collision location as a green-circled plus
sign. The upper-right portion is a thumbnail of two Radarsat
scenes over the area near the time of the incident with the
green-circled plus sign indicating the collision location.
The bottom-right image shows a National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration navigation chart with the collision location
identified by the same green-circled plus sign. |
Crowsey
Incorporated has the ability to use remote sensing capabilities
to conduct spatial geographic visualizations and other remote-sensing
services. Presently, the company has found a demand for these
services in the area of litigation support. By using spatial
information and analyses, Crowsey helps litigators understand
and visualize complex issues and then to communicate a clear
argument, with complete indisputable evidence. In one particular
case, the company was retained to assist in the defense of a
tugboat company hired to help transport an oil-drilling rig.
After the rig was moved and in position, the legs of the oil
rig platform were lowered, one of which punctured a hole in a
natural gas pipeline, resulting in a conflagration. Consequently,
the oil rig company sued the tug boat company for excessive damages.
Crowsey created a comprehensive geographic information system
that was summarized with a single visualization. The revelation
of this summary exhibit was reported to have been the primary
reason for the parties to reach a private settlement, saving
the tugboat company millions of dollars.
Remotely sensed
data, systems analysis, and graphic information systems will
further our understanding of how Earth's features have the potential
to affect private industry. Using the experience and technology
of NASA, Crowsey Incorporated will continue to provide unique
services to their clients.
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