New Format Support, Faster UAV Image Processing, and Solar Analysis in the Global Mapper SDK v26.0

Hot on the heels of the latest Global Mapper® application release is the Global Mapper SDK! This toolkit provides developers with all the analysis, format support, and display capabilities of Blue Marble Geographics’ award-winning desktop application in a convenient package. Now all of your Windows C++, C#, and even Python applications can add robust geospatial functionality with a few quick clicks.

Global Mapper SDK v26.0 (Standard)

So, what’s new in version 26.0? Let’s start with some features that are available in the standard version of the toolkit.

Web-Based and Tiled Datasets

Web-based data is here to stay. Whether you are talking about images, lines and points, raster data, meshes, tiles, or even 3D models, they all need to be loaded and quickly rendered in our browsers. In version 26 of the Global Mapper SDK, you can export even more of these datasets. We’ve added read and writer support for GL Transmission format, or glTF/GLB. You can also create more Cesium-based data tilesets, including digital elevations, point clouds, meshes, and 3D objects.

It’s not just data, it’s metadata!

As lidar point cloud availability and technology grow, so do the requirements for storing the complex components of the data. The latest version of the LAS 1.4 specification provides new capabilities for identifying features and their unique attributes using Extended Variable Length Records (EVLRs). These features are now supported using the LAS and Global Mapper Package formats in the GM 26.0 SDK.

Global Mapper Pro SDK v26.0

What about the Pro version of the SDK? As most of our users are aware, Global Mapper has several advanced features to deal with the most complex geospatial data processing and analysis tasks. This includes functionality for lidar point cloud classification and our Pixels to Points toolset for drone-collected data. Here’s what’s new for the 26.0 Pro release!

Solar Analysis at Your Fingertips

Hark! What light through yon window breaks? It is the sun! Understanding the impact that terrain and surface features can have on the landscape applies to a variety of scenarios — from agriculture and urban planning to commercial and residential solar power applications. Global Mapper can tell you exactly where and when the day’s glow might fall. Our new Solar Analysis tools provide insight into solar energy calculations using your own spatial data sets. You can adjust the settings to a specific time of day or season, and even generate time-sliced datasets to visualize the process. This is all available using the Global Mapper script tools inside of the Global Mapper Pro SDK.

Pixels to Points for Efficient Drone Data Processing

As drone imaging technology grows, so does the complexity of the data it produces. The Pixels to Points toolkit has once again been optimized for our users’ needs and continues to rise to the challenge of processing the latest imagery datasets. Users will notice the speed up throughout the processing pipeline in the Global Mapper Pro SDK v26.0. Now you can spend more time flying the drone.

Model Key Point Generation for Point Cloud Analysis

Quickly pare down your massive lidar datasets into manageable blocks using model key points. Version 26 of the Global Mapper Pro SDK enables users to load their largest point cloud datasets and create a simplified model leaving just the data that is important for your process. Once complete, users can convert the simplified cloud into a reasonably sized TIN surface that can be used in other geospatial applications.

To download a trial of the Global Mapper SDK, visit the Blue Marble Geographics website: bluemarblegeo.com/global-mapper-sdk.

For any questions or to request a trial of the Global Mapper Pro SDK, please contact sales@bluemarblegeo.com.