Center for Advanced Spatial Technologies

What Center for Advanced Spatial Technologies does

CAST (Center for Advanced Spatial Technologies) is a research center within the University of Arkansas's Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences, headquartered at 227 North Harmon Avenue in the J.B. Hunt Transport Services Center for Academic Excellence (JBHT) on the U of A campus in Fayetteville, Arkansas. The center delivers geospatial research services, equipment access, and training across four capability areas — Geomatics, Geospatial Data Science, Heritage Documentation and Visualization, and Spatial Data Acquisition — backed by specialized instruments including terrestrial and airborne LiDAR, sUAS airframes and sensors, GNSS/RTK systems, photogrammetry software, and a Nikon X TH 225 ST microCT system operated through the MICRO subsidiary.

CAST operates as a non-commercial state-entity research center funded principally by competitive federal and state grants (NSF, National Park Service, Arkansas state agencies), supplemented by usage-based equipment rental fees and research service charges. Its principal customer segments are University of Arkansas researchers and students, K-12 schools participating in the EAST Initiative (over 240 schools across Arkansas, Louisiana, and Oklahoma), external archaeologists served through the NSF-funded SPARC program, and cultural heritage / tribal partners such as Hampson Archeological Museum State Park and Picuris Pueblo. The center employs 18 personnel (12 full-time research faculty and staff, 1 part-time, plus hourly/graduate research assistants) under Director Jackson Cothren and Assistant Director Carla Klehm.

CAST's product and platform portfolio includes the Geospatial Modeling & Visualization (GMV) data repository, the Virtual Hampson Museum (440+ digital objects), the Rising Above in Arkansas heritage documentation platform, the TransMap Data Hub, and structured research collaboration programs (SPARC, MICRO, EAST Initiative). The center's go-to-market is event- and grant-driven rather than commercial — it markets through academic channels, professional conferences, SPARC webinars, EAST training centers, and the University of Arkansas website, inviting research partners to include CAST in proposal development. Research outputs are released under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 license, reinforcing the center's public-good, academic orientation.

Name

Center for Advanced Spatial Technologies

Legal name

Center for Advanced Spatial Technologies, University of Arkansas

Website

https://cast.uark.edu

Company type

Private

Founded year

1996

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

CAST is a University of Arkansas research center providing geospatial technology services, equipment access, and training — including LiDAR, sUAS, microCT, and heritage documentation — to university researchers, K-12 schools, and external archaeologists via NSF-funded programs.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Geospatial Research Services

NAICS

Geophysical Surveying and Mapping Services (541360), Surveying and Mapping (except Geophysical) Services (541370), Scientific Research and Development Services (5417), Environmental Consulting Services (54162)

SIC

Services-Commercial Physical & Biological Research (8731)

akta.pro industry

PRIMARYBPAMANAM

Satellite Imagery & Remote Sensing Geospatial Platforms

Business & Public Services/Web, Mobile & Digital Platforms/Maps, Location & Navigation Platforms

SECONDARYHDAAAEAL

Remote Sensing & Geospatial Vision (satellite/drone imagery)

Hardware, Technology & Telecom/Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning/Computer Vision & Video Analytics

SECONDARYBPAMANAB

Mapping & Basemap Platforms (Tiles/SDKs)

Business & Public Services/Web, Mobile & Digital Platforms/Maps, Location & Navigation Platforms

SECONDARYEUAHAKAD

Remote Sensing & Earth Observation Analytics (Satellite/UAV/LiDAR, Image Processing)

Energy, Utilities & Environment/Environmental Compliance, Monitoring & Consulting/Environmental Data Management, Modeling & GIS/Remote Sensing

Keywords

• Geospatial research services
• LiDAR scanning
• Drone mapping
• MicroCT imaging
• Archaeometry research

Headquarters

HQ city

Fayetteville

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Federal and State Grants: CAST is principally supported by competitive grants from federal and state agencies including NSF, National Park Service, and other federal programs. Research collaborations are often developed in partnership with industry and academic partners.
2. Equipment Rental Fees: Equipment rental fees are charged to allow CAST to maintain and update equipment and to replace worn out equipment. Federal government rate covers operational costs only. Non-federal rates include full cost recovery.
3. Research Services: Costs associated with the use of CAST field equipment are estimated and charged based on actual time and effort required of CAST faculty and staff to prepare, operate and/or train users, and assist with post-processing of data collected.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

CAST acquires, aggregates, analyzes, and applies geospatial data through a combination of expert consulting, field equipment rental, dedicated research labs, and digital platforms. The center sells and provides access to geospatial technologies including sUAS, terrestrial and airborne LiDAR, GNSS, photogrammetry, and microCT imaging for academic researchers, heritage projects, K-12 education, and university administration. Its research outputs (datasets, code, 3D models, publications) are released under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 license.

Product overview

CAST (Center for Advanced Spatial Technologies) at the University of Arkansas is a research center offering a comprehensive suite of geospatial services, facilities, and platforms. The center provides field equipment rental for GNSS, LiDAR, and UAS systems; maintains specialized research labs (Geospatial Teaching Labs, Paleoinformatics Lab); and operates the MicroCT Imaging Consortium (MICRO) for microtomography scanning. CAST's digital platforms include SPARC (NSF-funded archaeology research program), the Rising Above in Arkansas heritage documentation site, the Virtual Hampson Museum with 3D artifact scans, and the Geospatial Modeling & Visualization (GMV) data repository. The center also provides geospatial technology training through the EAST Initiative program and offers consulting services for research proposal development.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• SPARC: Spatial Archaeometry Research Collaborations - an NSF-funded archaeology and archaeometry program dedicated to promoting geospatial research in archaeology.
• MICRO

Products and services

• MicroCT Imaging Consortium for Research and Outreach (MICRO)
• SPARC (Spatial Archaeometry Research Collaborations)
• Geospatial Field Equipment Rental
• EAST Initiative Training & Support
• Virtual Hampson Museum
• Rising Above in Arkansas
• Geospatial Modeling & Visualization (GMV) Platform
• TransMap Data Hub
• Geospatial Consulting Services

Quantifiable outcome

• 300 students supported per semester through teaching labs
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers6 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability5 records

Feature5 records

Partnerships

Ten partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• EAST InitiativecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerEAST (Environmental and Spatial Technology) Initiative is a project-based, service-learning program that has expanded to over 240 schools in Arkansas, Louisiana, and Oklahoma since 1996. CAST is the very first educational partner and provides training, support, and manages the Fayetteville Training Center.
• Dartmouth's Spatial Archaeometry Lab (SPARCL)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSPARC pairs archaeologists with geospatial experts from University of Arkansas's CAST and Dartmouth's Spatial Archaeometry Lab (SPARCL). The residency program provides stipends for researchers to travel to CAST or SPARCL for face-to-face collaborations.
• U of A Facilities ManagementcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCAST collaborates with U of A Facilities Management on campus projects including the Room Use Survey System (RUSS) for building information management and 3D documentation of campus facilities.
• Hampson Archeological Museum State ParkcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaboration with Arkansas State Parks to create the Virtual Hampson Museum featuring 440+ 3D digital objects from the Nodena village collection, with support from Arkansas Natural and Cultural Resources Council.
• Arkansas State ArchivesminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerRising Above project includes materials from Arkansas State Archives for documenting Japanese American incarceration at Rohwer and Jerome concentration camps.
• University of Arkansas LibrariesminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerRising Above project includes materials from U of A Libraries for the archive of Japanese American incarceration history.
• Arkansas Research Alliance Core Facilities ExchangeminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCAST participates in the Arkansas Research Alliance Core Facilities Exchange, an online platform showing research instrumentation available at laboratories across the state.
• Picuris PueblominorStrategic or Co-development PartnerSPARC collaboration with Picuris Pueblo tribal members for UAV-borne multispectral imagery and LiDAR mapping of adobe architecture and terraced fields in New Mexico (NSF 2015968).
• Barnard College Columbia UniversityminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerSPARC collaboration partner for Picuris Collaborative Archaeology Project led by Southern Methodist University.
• University of ArizonaminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerSPARC collaboration partner for Picuris Collaborative Archaeology Project with co-PI Lindsay Montgomery.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Others

• Leica Geosystems: Leica Geosystems is CAST's primary equipment vendor (Leica ScanStation P40, Z+F IMAGER, TruView) and funds the Leica Geosystems Chair in Geospatial Imaging held by Director Jackson Cothren, making it a key enabling ecosystem partner.
• Blue Marble Geographics: Blue Marble Geographics provides coordinate transformation and geospatial data management software used in research and survey workflows — comparable to CAST's mapping and geospatial data science activity at the tooling layer.
• Riegl USA: Riegl manufactures terrestrial and airborne LiDAR scanners used by CAST. As a vendor/enabler rather than a competitor, it is a relevant ecosystem peer shaping CAST's technology choices and equipment refresh options.

Broad incumbents

• Maxar Technologies: Maxar is a leading commercial provider of high-resolution satellite imagery and geospatial analytics — a broad incumbent whose products (and those of peers like Planet Labs) overlap with CAST's remote sensing / satellite imagery research activity.
• ESRI (Environmental Systems Research Institute): ESRI is the dominant commercial GIS platform provider and operates ArcGIS Online (CAST's Brian Culpepper is an admin). It is a broad incumbent that competes with university geospatial centers by commoditizing mapping workflows.
• USGS Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center: The USGS EROS Center is the federal flagship for satellite remote sensing, geospatial data archiving (Landsat), and Earth observation research — a broad incumbent that overlaps with CAST's remote sensing and geospatial data science capabilities but at vastly greater scale.

Direct peers

• CyberGIS Center at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign: A university-affiliated center providing geospatial data science infrastructure, HPC integration, and researcher support — comparable to CAST's Geospatial Data Science capability and HPCC linkage, and a natural academic peer.
• National Center for Airborne Laser Mapping (NCALM): NCALM is a university-affiliated (U Houston) airborne LiDAR mapping facility providing researcher access to survey-grade LiDAR data and processing — directly overlapping CAST's airborne LiDAR and geomatics offerings for research use.
• Dartmouth Spatial Archaeometry Lab (SPARCL): Dartmouth's SPARCL is CAST's named partner in the NSF-funded SPARC program and applies geospatial technologies (LiDAR, photogrammetry, UAV) to archaeological research, mirroring CAST's core archaeometry use cases and academic positioning.
• University of Texas at Austin Center for Archaeological Research: UT Austin CAR uses geospatial technologies (LiDAR, GIS, geophysics) for archaeological fieldwork and heritage documentation, similar to CAST's heritage visualization and SPARC-style fieldwork support.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/uarkansas
• GitHubgithub.com/castuofa
• YouTubeyoutube.com/user/UniversityArkansas
• Facebookfacebook.com/UofArkansas
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/castuofa
• Instagraminstagram.com/uarkansas

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Center for Advanced Spatial Technologies