Blom to Shine Light on Vegetation Interference on Power Lines

Blom will acquire and process laser data for the Italian national transmission network manager, Terna. The data, captured with LiDAR (Light Detection And Ranging), will be used to identify interference caused by vegetation encroachment in and around powerline corridors.

In previous years identifying vegetation interference on powerlines has been carried out by direct observation. This is a time consuming activity, requiring experienced personnel to be on-site for many hours. Blom proposed an alternative process and Terna quickly realized that LiDAR data is a powerful and efficient methodology, ideally suited for this kind of application. It is expected that this method to identify vegetation interference will be regularly applied to the whole transmission grid in the future.

Blom will fly more than 1,000 km of transmission powerlines in various areas in Italy, simultaneously capturing LiDAR data and images for orthophoto production.

About Blom
The Blom Group is the largest provider of geospatial services in Europe for both government agencies and private commercial organizations and companies. Blom owns exclusive spatial databases composed of maps, images and 3D models. Focused on online services, Blom provides data and solutions to its customers in many markets and allows its partners to create high added-value applications based on Blom data models and services. This strategy is backed by Blom’s major technical capacity in aircrafts, cameras, laser scanners and mapping systems. This makes it possible for all projects to be carried out within the company, assuring a high quality product is delivered both on-time and to budget. Blom has more than 900 employees and offices in 13 countries and its HQ is located in Oslo, Norway. Blom is listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange (ticker BLO). For more information, visit www.blomasa.com

The demand of advanced and high quality geographical information is steadily growing from year to year. BLOM holds a strong position in the digital geodata market and aims to be the most innovative service provider and preferred choice for its customers.”

Contacts:
Website:  www.blomasa.com
Tel +44 (0)1934 311 000
info.uk@blomasa.com

The publication of AGI member press releases is a member service. The AGI neither approves or endorses the contents of member's press releases, nor makes any assurance of their factual accuracy.

Red Eléctrica de España Chooses Blom to Improve Engineering Operations

Red Eléctrica de España, S.A. (REE), the sole transmission and electricity system operator in Spain, has chosen Blom to assist with its plans to improve powerline engineering and maintenance operations. REE employs 1,800 people and had revenues exceeding 1.6 billion euro in 2011. The company’s transmission grid is composed of more than 40,100 kilometres of powerlines.

Blom is to provide detailed topography and vegetation clearance analysis of the powerline, which REE will then use for maintenance planning. In addition, Blom will provide the information needed for REE to be able to set up new, and upgrade existing powerlines. To further enhance the value to REE Blom is also working on maximising the access to the large amount of data being delivered.

All the projects are based on laser scanning and delivery of high resolution data. This allows REE to have innovative and detailed 3D illustrations of their powerlines.

REE and Blom have worked together to improve the services delivered from the laser. Deliverables will include consultancy services, as well as comprehensive models suitable for powerline and forestry engineering.

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Blom to Map and Monitor Coastal Stretches in France

Blom’s Italian-French subsidiary has signed a contract with the Finistère Department and the Provence-Alpes-Côtes d’Azur Region to map and monitor stretches of the Atlantic and Mediterranean coastline in France. 

The project aims to produce a seamless digital terrain model, or DTM, of the French coastline. Blom will use bathymetric and topographic laser scanners to collect accurate data simultaneously from both land and seabed terrain, delivering the response that 21st century decision makers need.

The contract is in the scope of the Litto3D project. Litto3D®, a SHOM (Hydrographic and Oceanographic Service of the Navy) and IGN (National Geographic Institute) programme, aims to produce a seamless digital terrain model of the entire French coast, covering more than 5,500 km in length, and will feature at the core of all integrated coastal management projects.

Litto3D® is required for a large number of usage areas, such as for flood risk prevention, pollution, safety at sea or natural disasters, and for regional development of for example ports, tourism and industry. Other examples to usage areas are for public maritime delimitation, change of coastline due to erosion, fauna and flora protection, mineral and living resources concerns, research and scientific studies and military needs such as inshore patrol, search and rescue, amphibious operation and mine warfare.

About Blom
The Blom Group is the largest provider of geospatial services in Europe for both government agencies and private commercial organizations and companies. Blom owns exclusive spatial databases composed of maps, images and 3D models. Focused on online services, Blom provides data and solutions to its customers in many markets and allows its partners to create high added-value applications based on Blom data models and services. This strategy is backed by Blom’s major technical capacity in aircrafts, cameras, laser scanners and mapping systems. This makes it possible for all projects to be carried out within the company, assuring a high quality product is delivered both on-time and to budget. Blom has more than 900 employees and offices in 13 countries and its HQ is located in Oslo, Norway. Blom is listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange (ticker BLO). For more information, visit www.blomasa.com

The demand of advanced and high quality geographical information is steadily growing from year to year. BLOM holds a strong position in the digital geodata market and aims to be the most innovative service provider and preferred choice for its customers.” 

Contacts:

Tel +44 (0)1934 311 000
info.uk@blomasa.com

The publication of AGI member press releases is a member service. The AGI neither approves or endorses the contents of member's press releases, nor makes any assurance of their factual accuracy.

Norwegian Public Roads Administration commissions BlomSTREET pilot project

During the summer Blom captured a pilot project for the Norwegian Public Roads Administration (NPRA). The project comprised of approximately 25 km of county roads in Sør-Trøndelag and parts of the city centre of Trondheim, using BlomSTREET 360 degree panorama technology, powered by CycloMedia.

The objective for the pilot project was to evaluate how NPRA will benefit from the BlomSTREET data capture technology and software solutions in a typical inventory project. The location in Sør-Trøndelag was chosen as a key area with on-going inventory activities while preparing for a new road maintenance contract.

NPRA has a wealth of experience in equipping cars with advanced camera systems to be used for inspection and inventory projects. The cameras point forward from the survey vehicle and a corresponding imagery management system offers functionality to measure widths of roads.

Typically objects such as traffic signs, poles and traffic barriers are inspected and documented. The objects are then given a map-reference based on the known position of the survey vehicle. This method requires the survey vehicle to stop at every location, which means that considerable time is spent in the field, and subsequently raises associated safety risks; two disadvantages that NPRA want to resolve.

“A major advantage with the BlomSTREET solution is efficiency - the car is able to take full panorama images at 5m intervals while driving at speeds up to 80 km/h.

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Norwegian Public Roads Administration commissions BlomSTREET pilot project

During the summer Blom captured a pilot project for the Norwegian Public Roads Administration (NPRA). The project comprised of approximately 25 km of county roads in Sør-Trøndelag and parts of the city centre of Trondheim, using BlomSTREET 360 degree panorama technology.

The objective for the pilot project was to evaluate how NPRA will benefit from the BlomSTREET data capture technology and software solutions in a typical inventory project. The location in Sør-Trøndelag was chosen as a key area with on-going inventory activities while preparing for a new road maintenance contract.

NPRA has a wealth of experience in equipping cars with advanced camera systems to be used for inspection and inventory projects. The cameras point forward from the survey vehicle and a corresponding imagery management system offers functionality to measure widths of roads.

Typically objects such as traffic signs, poles and traffic barriers are inspected and documented. The objects are then given a map-reference based on the known position of the survey vehicle. This method requires the survey vehicle to stop at every location, which means that considerable time is spent in the field, and subsequently raises associated safety risks; two disadvantages that NPRA want to resolve.

“A major advantage with the BlomSTREET solution is efficiency - the car is able to take full panorama images at 5m intervals while driving at speeds up to 80 km/h. Registration and documentation tasks are completed from the office, which considerably reduces the time required in the field. Just this factor alone should save costs”, says Ole Jostein Lefstad from NPRA. “We also realise the important safety advantage of not having to stop the survey cars on the side of the road for every required measurement. Stopping so frequently could cause dangerous traffic situations”.

BlomSTREET offers the possibility to inspect measure and digitise objects directly from the imagery in any direction from the captured point. The data overlay functionality is extremely valuable for quality control and updating vector map data. The BlomSTREET solution is based on data hosting with access to software and fast online streaming of the imagery.

This hosted service has the advantages of no local data storage required, automatic software upgrades, providing data security and minimising IT maintenance – an all-round cost saving. Local installations are available for customers who require offline data. Efficient support and project management are provided to all customers as part of the service.

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