Archived GIS Snippets
Published in 2010
A-C
Aerial Cartographics of America Begins Second Year of Imaging for Tampa Bay Water
Aerial Cartographics of America (ACA) of Orlando, Fla., has completed the first year of aerial image acquisition and has begun its 2010 flights as part of a 1600-square-mile, three-year contract with Tampa Bay Water.
ACA was selected for the Tampa Bay Water mapping contract after demonstrating the improved clarity and resolution of false color infrared imagery (CIR) acquired by its Vexcel UCX Digital Mapping Large Format Camera. The approximately 1600 square miles of imagery, flown twice a year, is used to compare and analyze changes in wetland vegetation and hydrological surface conditions in the area for which Tampa Bay Water delivers high quality drinking water.
Dan Schmutz, Chief Environmental Scientist for GPI Southeast, Inc., which provides environmental services support to Tampa Bay Water and performs QA/QC for the current mapping project, commented, “The overall quality of imagery collected from the UCX Digital Mapping camera system – including enhanced resolution, spatial accuracy, and color characteristics – improves our ability to document ecological and hydrological conditions in Tampa Bay Water’s study area.”
first published week of: 06/07/2010
Aero-Metric Awarded “Statewide Imagery Acquisition” Contract by Alaska Statewide Digital Mapping Initiative
The Alaska Department of Natural Resources (DNR) selected Aero-Metric, Inc. to provide current and accurate 2.5 meter resolution orthoimage coverage of the entire State. The new imagery will be acquired and processed within the next four years, and will allow Alaska agencies and private organizations to better utilize GIS and mapping technology to aid in responsible decision making.
Alaska’s last statewide imagery collection, the Alaska High Altitude Photography (AHAP) program was acquired 30 years ago and did not provide complete coverage of the state. In addition, the AHAP imagery  does not reflect the current Alaska landscape both man-made development and natural changes such as coastal shoreline erosion, melting permafrost, or shrub-line migration and needs to be refreshed. Technical limitations of that imagery also prevent it from being used in a geographic information system (GIS). The new 2.5 meter resolution statewide orthoimage will provide current data and will be processed such that it will be immediately usable in GIS mapping systems.
The Alaska Statewide Digital Mapping Initiative (SDMI) is a state initiative that aims at providing up-to-date and complete coverage and to strengthen the alignment between state and federal mapping interests. The new imagery will show current conditions and trends over the Alaska landscape, and will become an essential tool for Alaska’s economic development, livability, and public safety.
first published week of: 10/11/2010
Aero-Metric Awarded “Statewide Imagery Acquisition” Contract by Alaska Statewide Digital Mapping Initiative
The Alaska Department of Natural Resources (DNR) selected Aero-Metric, Inc. to provide current and accurate 2.5 meter resolution orthoimage coverage of the entire state. The new imagery will be acquired and processed within the next four years, and will allow Alaska agencies and private organizations to better utilize GIS and mapping technology to aid in responsible decision making. Alaska’s last statewide imagery collection, the Alaska High Altitude Photography (AHAP) program was acquired 30 years ago and did not provide complete coverage of the state. In addition, the AHAP imagery  does not reflect the current Alaska landscape -- both man-made development and natural changes such as coastal shoreline erosion, melting permafrost, or shrub-line migration and needs to be refreshed. Technical limitations of that imagery also prevent it from being used in a geographic information system. The new 2.5 meter resolution statewide orthoimage will provide current data and will be processed such that it will be immediately usable in GIS mapping systems.
The Alaska Statewide Digital Mapping Initiative (SDMI) is a state initiative that aims at providing up-to-date and complete coverage and to strengthen the alignment between state and federal mapping interests. The new imagery will show current conditions and trends over the Alaska landscape, and will become an essential tool for Alaska’s economic development, livability, and public safety. Aero-Metric drew on its 50 years of local experience in Alaska and successful track record managing large mapping programs to design a solution that leverages an aggressive satellite image acquisition schedule, existing elevation data, Aero-Metric’s extensive ground control archive, and state of the art image processing capabilities. To provide the best solution to SDMI, Aero-Metric brought to bear the combined resources of SPOT Image Corporation and Fugro Earthdata as subcontractors.
“This Statewide Imagery Acquisition project is uniquely challenging because of its large geographic size and the extreme variability of Alaska’s terrain and climate. Aero-Metric’s knowledge of the weather, logistics, costs, and risks associated with working in Alaska will minimize challenges and streamline production.” said Tony Follett, senior VP and Alaska Region manager for Aero-Metric Inc.
first published week of: 11/01/2010
Aero-Metric Puts Intergraph®'s 100th Digital Mapping Camera into Operation
Aero-Metric, a major provider of professional geospatial services with locations across the United States, has acquired its third Intergraph® Z/I Imaging Digital Mapping Camera (DMC®) to expand its high-quality, aerial imaging capabilities. The deal marks the 100th Intergraph large-format DMC to be put into operation and in flight by customers around the globe.
“As we headed into 2010 with the largest backlog in our company history, we needed to expand our image acquisition capacity,” said Pat Olson, president and CEO of Aero-Metric. “Due to its superior accuracy, reliability and ease of use, we decided to purchase our third DMC to meet our client commitments and rising demand for large digital image acquisition projects.”
“Intergraph cameras continue to be the sensors of choice for the most successful geospatial and image acquisition firms across the world,” said Jack Ickes, vice president of photogrammetry at Intergraph. “The 100th DMC purchase by Aero-Metric is another milestone of Intergraph’s leadership role in advanced digital imagery technology. It affirms the true value of Intergraph’s photogrammetric solutions and our commitment to preserving customer investments, streamlining operations and maximizing efficiency.”
The Intergraph DMC was the industry’s first large-format frame digital aerial camera, the first to be certified by the United States Geological Survey and the first to offer an innovative Solid State Disk (SSD) storage technology to decrease camera weight and footprint. Intergraph has also recently introduced the RMK D™, a versatile, medium-format digital aerial camera designed to replace film-based technology for smaller mapping and remote sensing projects and for high-resolution engineering projects.
first published week of: 02/08/2010
ArcGIS Explorer: new Version Makes Sharing Easier
The new version of ArcGIS Explorer, a free geographic information system (GIS) viewer, opens more avenues for users to share geographic information. It also has many new interoperability updates that help integrate it with ArcGIS 10, including direct support for image services, improved support for ArcGIS 10 layer packages and geodatabases, and more ways to leverage ArcGIS Online.
ArcGIS Online, which is deeply integrated into the ArcGIS Explorer experience, provides an easy way to find and share geographic information and form online communities. With the new ArcGIS Explorer release, users can search for and add content directly from ArcGIS Online, as well as add map items immediately to their online accounts. All maps, data, and groups can be accessed from ArcGIS Explorer.
 The latest release of ArcGIS Explorer offers a number of new features that support enhanced interoperability, both with the ArcGIS system and via KML. The free GIS viewer now allows users to export to layer packages and KML, as well as create notes from KML. Also, data can be directly accessed from Excel spreadsheets. Additionally, KML handling has been improved in both 2D and 3D mode, and region-based KML is supported in 2D mode.
ArcGIS Explorer users will now be able to directly use and optimize image services. New tools and properties for image services include gamma, brightness, contrast, compression, resample method, and mosaic method and operator. Image services can also be added as elevation layers.
In addition to the free download of ArcGIS Explorer, Esri offers a free ArcGIS Explorer Software Developer Kit (SDK). This SDK has been updated to support Visual Studio 2010, including templates for the new add-in types and an updated add-in wizard. The reference and conceptual help have also been updated, and new samples are included.
first published week of: 08/23/2010
--Page 2 of 12--
![](\"http://ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/s/noscript?tag=theharlowrepo-20\")