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SpatialNews.com Press Release
EarthData Begins Aerial Image Acquisition for the Arkansas Statewide Mapping Program
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FREDERICK, Md., Jan. 10 -- EarthData International mobilized
to Little Rock, Arkansas, last week to kick off its recent $1.3 million
contract award with the Arkansas Geographic Information Office (AGIO) for
updated orthophoto mapping. Using multiple digital cameras, EarthData will
acquire aerial imagery over the entire state - approximately 52,100 square
miles - in a single flying season. Governor Mike Huckabee authorized the
program funding and is a longtime champion for the development of GIS
technology and data in Arkansas.
The project marks the first all-digital statewide orthophoto mapping
program in Arkansas history and involves simultaneous collection of natural
color and color-infrared imagery for generation of 1-meter pixel resolution
orthophotos and a 5-meter grid digital elevation model. All products will be
delivered to AGIO within one year, faster than previous programs completed
using conventional film photography.
"The imagery from the 2006 update program will become the base layer for
numerous applications, including natural resource management, economic
development, emergency response, and local planning, as well as for subsequent
development and maintenance of other geospatial data throughout Arkansas,"
said Learon Dalby, the state's GIS program manager.
Five counties have also exercised an option to upgrade to 1-foot pixel
resolution orthophotos over selected areas through the statewide program.
Totaling an additional 2,500 square miles, the higher-resolution products will
serve a variety of end-users within these counties and cities, from property
appraisers to city engineers to law enforcement personnel.
Once completed, project data will be made available to the general public
through GeoStor, the state's popular online GIS data clearinghouse.
The Arkansas project expands EarthData's portfolio of all-digital
statewide mapping programs and underscores the organization's strategic goal
of expanding its presence in the South.
About EarthData
EarthData is an airborne data collection, mapping, and GIS services
organization that provides clients with customized products, services, and GIS
applications to support a wide range of land-use, resource management, and
engineering activities. With its fleet of aircraft, the organization collects
aerial photography, uses an airborne laser system (lidar) and imaging radar
(GeoSAR) to produce 3D terrain models, and develops or deploys other remote
sensing technologies to detect thermal and multispectral information about the
earth's surface. EarthData offices in Florida, Maryland, New York, North
Carolina, and Washington, DC, use this data to create and supply
photogrammetric, lidar, radar, and digital orthophoto mapping and GIS
applications and services. EarthData also owns the midwest mapping and GIS
company Horizons, Inc., with offices in South Dakota and Minnesota.
(http://www.earthdata.com)
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