Global Mapper 10 added support for importing and exporting BigTIFF files.

Global Mapper 10 provides a expansive set of features for viewing, displaying and converting mapsets at a fraction of the cost of some of the larger GIS suites. While it does not have a full functionality of, say, ArcGIS (most notably it lacks spatial analyses and the ability to select and edit based on table attributes), it does the basics extremely well and much more quickly than those other GIS packages. Customer support is without peer, with feature requests and bug fixes turned out almost immediately when presented in the users group distribution list.

Just annouced this morning is the exciting news that Global Mapper 10 has been released! This has been a much anticipated release for those who follow the Global Mapper Forum and the program updates.

Maybe you are asking yourself, why should I upgrade? Here are some of the improvements and newest features to Global Mapper 10.

Added support for importing ESRI personal geodatabase (MDB) files.

Added support for importing and exporting BigTIFF files.

Added more control over placement of labels for point features. Now when choosing the font to use for point features, you can also choose where to place the label for the point relative to the point location. An automatic setting will try different locations to try and make the label fit.

Added support for selecting/changing the layer that features are in when editing existing features and creating new ones with the Digitizer Tool.

Added KML/KMZ Super Overlay Support! This allows working with huge data sets in Google Earth. The option to automatically grid the data on the KML/KMZ export dialog enables this behavior.

Added support for creating new feature coordinates based on distance/bearing and/or COGO values from a start location using the Digitizer Tool.

Added option on the Gridding tab for exports to grid to the currently selected area features. This will create a separate export file for each selected area feature. Naming can be done using the display labels or an attribute of the selected area feature(s).

Added options when editing multiple features to rename attributes and also to copy the values of one attribute to a different attribute.

Added new Coordinate Convertor option under the Tools menu to allow easily converting a coordinate between any two supported projections/datums/units.

Added ability to Search Vector Data dialog to limit your search to the existing search results. This effectively allows you to query on multiple attributes/values.

Added a large collection of new available line styles to use when rendering line features or area feature borders.

Added option to crop a loaded raster layer to the currently selected area feature to the Cropping tab of the Raster Options dialog accessible from the Overlay Control Center.

Added support for exporting loaded vector data to the MapInfo TAB/MAP format.

Added support for exporting loaded 3D line and point data to the SEGP1 format.

Made automatic collar cropping work for BSB marine charts.

Global Mapper 10 supports accurate conversions between a large list of projection systems and datums.

Global Mapper 10 supports viewing of dozens of the most common data formats: DLG-O, DRG, DOQ, DEM, DGN, DTED, DWG, DXF, SDTS DLG, SDTS DEM, ECW, MrSID, ESRI Shapefiles, E00, JPEG2000, CADRG/CIB, GeoTIFF, KML/KMZ, Lidar LAS, Arc Grid, Tiger/Line And many, many more!

Provides direct access to Digital Globe, GlobeXplorer, and AirPhotoUSA high resolution color satellite imagery for the entire world from within the application!

Provides direct access to the complete TerraServer-USA satellite imagery and topographic map archive for the entire US free-of-charge within the application!

Provides easy, direct access to WMS data sources, including built-in access to the complete 30-m NED database, the 3-arc second world SRTM database, and color global imagery free-of-charge within the application!

Global Mapper 10 supports true 3D viewing of loaded elevation data including draping of any loaded imagery and vector data over the 3D surface.

Crop, reproject, and merge any combination of raster data and elevation data, including DRGs. You can also crop data to an area feature.

DIGITIZING SUPPORT! You can digitize new vector (area, line, and point) features by drawing them with the mouse. You can also edit existing vector features. Newly created and editing features can be saved to any of the supported export formats. In addition, shapes like rectangles, circles, ellipses, arcs, and concentric range rings. Global Mapper 10 can be easily drawn as well.

GPS SUPPORT! You can track a compatible GPS device connected to your computer's serial port or USB port in real-time over any loaded data. In addition, you can mark waypoints at the current GPS location and record a tracklog of where your GPS device has been while connected, all seamless with your loaded map data!

PROJECTION/DATUM SUPPORT - Global Mapper 10 supports accurate conversions between a large list of projection systems and datums. NAD27 datum conversions in the US use the NADCON conversion method, and the NTv2 datum conversion method is used for the NAD27 (Canada), AGD66, AGD84, and NZGD49 datums. Custom datum conversions can be easily added in either 3-parameter or 7-parameter form if a required datum transformation is not already supported.

EXPORT SUPPORT! You can export both vector, raster, and elevation data to a variety of formats (see below). You can merge any combination of data sets, regardless of source scale, type, and projection. You can also breakup your data into a regularly spaced grid on export if you'd like as well.

IMAGE RECTIFICATION! You can graphically rectify (georeference) any JPG, TIFF, or PNG image and save the results to a new fully georeferenced image. Vector data can also have a rectification process applied to it after loading to allow morphing vector data to fit other data sets.

CONTOUR GENERATION! You can create contours for any combination of elevation data. You can also specify the contour interval to use. The generated contour data can then be exported to any of the supported vector export formats (see previous item for a list).

Automatic triangulation and gridding of 3D point data sets, such as ASCII XYZ files. This allows you to convert a set of elevation samples into a fully gridded data set, which can then be used for contour generation, line of sight analysis, and view shed analysis, among other things. The data can also be exported to any of the supported elevation grid formats, such as USGS DEM.

Global Mapper 10 supports for combining/comparing terrain surfaces, such as DEMs. This allows you to generate a new terrain surface by combining/comparing two loaded terrain surfaces with operations like subtraction (difference), averaging, and min/max. The results can then be exported to any of the supported elevation grid formats, such as USGS DEM.

NASA World Wind Support! Any loaded data can be exported to JPG or PNG image tiles setup for immediate display in NASA's World Wind application. The necessary .xml file is also automatically generated.

Google Maps Support! Any loaded data can be exported to JPG or PNG image tiles setup for immediate display using Google Maps in a web browser. The necessary HTML file is also automatically generated.

Advanced screen capture. You can capture the contents of the screen to a BMP, JPG, PNG, or (Geo)TIFF file of user-specified resolution.

Global Mapper also includes the ability to directly access multiple online sources of imagery!!!

Global Mapper 10 is more than just a viewer capable of displaying the most popular raster, elevation and vector datasets. Global Mapper 10 has built in functionality for distance and area calculations, raster blending, feathering, spectral analysis and contrast adjustment, elevation querying, line of sight calculations, cut-and-fill volume calculations, as well as advanced capabilities like image rectification, contour generation from surface data, view shed analysis (including Fresnel) from surface data, and triangulation and gridding of 3D point data. Repetitive tasks can be accomplished using the built in scripting language or comprehensive batch conversion functionality.

Global Mapper also includes the ability to directly access multiple online sources of imagery, topographic maps, and gridded terrain data. Global Mapper 10 includes access to worldwide high resolution color imagery from Digital Globe/GlobeXplorer/AirPhotoUSA (watermarked access for free) and access to the entire TerraServer-USA database of USGS satellite imagery and topographic maps free-of-charge. Global Mapper 10 also has the ability to easily access WMS data sources, including built-in access to elevation data and color imagery for the entire world, and to view elevation data in true 3D with any loaded raster imagery and vector data draped on top of it!

Have you ever received a dataset that does not match the projection of your current project? Simply load the dataset into Global Mapper 10, change the projection, and save the file to match your coordinate system. If the dataset is larger than the area you are interested in, export the data using the crop feature and change the projection and format of the data at the same time.

Your data files can be loaded as layers, for example a Digital Elevation Model (DEM) can be loaded with a scanned topographical map to create a 3D view of the map. A digital aerial image can be draped on the surface together with vector contour mapping to create a stunning and informative graphic. The results can be printed, or the workspace can be exported to a high resolution raster image for use in a presentation or report.