Locus Technologies Introduces Locus Mobile for Data Access and Input On the Go

Locus Mobile is designed for easy and accurate data collection on the go.

Locus Mobile on the go…  Locus Mobile works both online and offline to ensure continuous access and interaction, and takes advantage of the most advanced technology to provide a variety of options for ad hoc sampling, additional field data checks, dynamic forms, and effective mapping tools. Locus Mobile users can easily configure business-specific data collection needs, enter data offline and upload on-demand, and synchronize data back to Locus’ systems for final review, storing, managing, and reporting.

We are seeing growing customer interest in adding mobility to our full-line of environmental and sustainability information management applications to more efficiently centralize remotely collected information for executive decision-support reporting. Locus Mobile allows users to push information the other way so that remote personnel are empowered with the information and instructions they need to take appropriate preventative and remedial action on the ground, perform real-time data validation, and spot exceedances. As a result of this more frictionless two-way data flow, Locus mobile will completely transform the way enterprises address their environmental and sustainability challenges and achieve positive outcomes for the environment, brand protection, and their shareholders and customers.

Locus Mobile is offered as a downloadable app from the Apple App Store to work with Locus’ cloud software systems.

Download it here: Locus Mobile App Store

NASA now says massive methane cloud over U.S. Southwest is legitimate

Several years ago, NASA scientists discovered a cloud of methane gas over the Four Corners of the American southwest that measured about the size of Delaware. The unusually high readings were dismissed then; however, a new study today confirms that the methane hot spot is legitimate.

“We didn’t focus on it because we weren’t sure if it was a true signal or an instrument error,” said NASA research scientist Christian Frankenberg, who works in NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratories in Pasadena, California.

The Christian Science Monitor website states that a 2,500 square mile methane cloud over the region where Colorado, Utah, New Mexico, and Arizona connect traps more heat in a 1-year period than all of Sweden’s annual carbon dioxide emissions.

To provide an overview of gases that endanger the Earth’s atmosphere, methane gas is the most powerful of the greenhouse gases. Carbon dioxide is another greenhouse gas, and is more abundant in our atmosphere. However, methane is more effective at trapping heat in the atmosphere than carbon dioxide.

A new study published 10 October 2014 in the journal Geophysical Research Letters takes a look at the data discovered several years ago and confirms what we now know to be North America’s largest methane hot spot. According to lead author of the study, Eric Kort, a professor of Atmospheric, Oceanic, and Space Sciences at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan, the source of the methane is from extensive coal mining activity in the San Juan Basin. According to Kort, the Basin is “the most active coalbed methane production area in the country.”

There has been a notable increase in fracking in that region. Both Kort and Frankenberg believe that the earlier coal mining is most likely to blame for the methane cloud.  From 2003 to 2009, the study shows there were 0.59 million metric tons of methane released each year — 3.5 times more than previous estimates.

According to Kort, “The results are indicative that emissions from established fossil fuel harvesting techniques are greater than inventoried. There’s been so much attention on high-volume hydraulic fracturing, but we need to consider the industry as a whole.”

Cities Band Together to Curb Their Greenhouse Gas Emissions

The United Nations is calling this the largest banded effort to decrease cities’ greenhouse gas emissions. On 23 September 2014, the UN launched a Global Compact of Mayors, the world’s largest effort for fighting climate change on the city level. The Compact of Mayors has set goals of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 454 tonnes by 2020.

During the UN Climate Summit 2014 in NYC, Mayor of the South African city of Johannesburg, Mpho Franklyn Parks Tau said, “In many ways, cities all over the world are leading the way by example: not only setting ambitious emission reduction targets, but [also] working collaboratively to help each other to achieve our respective goals.”

Tao goes on to tell SciDev.Net that this “places a collective responsibility on all of us because we are accountable to each other. As partners, we can also tap into the knowledge and expertise of other cities that have the same objectives.” Tau cites that 15 cities, including Copenhagen, London, and Washington DC, have committed to cut their emissions by more than 70% by 2050.

To pave the way, Johannesburg is now generating, rather than using, electricity while treating their sewage, and they continue expanding their Rea Vaya rapid transport system to reduce the city’s carbon footprint by decreasing the use of personal cars.

The Integrated Program on Sustainable Cities was launched by The Global Environment Facility (GEF) at the summit, which commits $100 million to establish a common platform for cities to access and share solutions on climate change adaptation and mitigation, energy, transport and water. South and South-East Asia cities are leading the way in climate-proofing.

Locus’ Intellus Site Creates Big Data Transparency in the Cloud; Millions of Environmental Data Records are Now Publicly Available

Through the Locus EIM platform public facing website, Intellus, the general public can now access remediation and environmental data records associated with the Office of Environmental Management’s (EM’s) legacy nuclear cleanup program.

Containing more than 14 million records, Locus’ Intellus has consolidated Los Alamos National Laboratory’s (LANL’s) information that was previously handled in multiple independent databases. The centralized, cloud-based solution directly attributed to an estimated $15 million in cost savings for LANL through 2015.

The public facing site also ensures users have real-time access to the most recent data. The same data that scientists and analysts use to base important environmental stewardship decisions off of. Through tools and capabilities such as automated electronic data validation, interactive maps, and the ability to include data from other third-party providers and environmental programs, Intellus provides the ultimate platform to view LANL’s environmental data without compromising the core EIM system that LANL scientists use on a daily basis.

Locus has always advocated for the power of data transparency via the cloud. When you apply the most extensive security protocols to a cloud-based system, it can be a winning combination for data management and public trust.