Engineers Can Look to the Skies

Paris, France, 14th June 2012 – AeroGRID has announced online availability of high accuracy aerial orthophotos for most of Europe and large tracts of North America. Aimed directly at the civil engineering sector immediate availability starts with 15 European countries and the USA with more following in quick succession over the next few months. The data can be accessed on a transactional, per view basis or through an unlimited annual license. All data is delivered via a fast WMS feed.

The first 15 European countries available now are:

Ireland, Gt. Britain, Belgium, The Netherlands, Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Czech Republic, France, Switzerland, Spain, Croatia, Serbia, and Montenegro. These will be joined soon by Hungary and Slovenia and Canada will follow in the next few months

All imagery can be ordered with full metadata support including accuracy, resolution, date and the equipment deployed in data capture. This provides surety and confidence that the data is fit for proposed mapping projects. The AeroGRID service has a tight SLA (99.9%) meaning that its servers enjoy highly competitive uptime. 

Additionally users can have WMS access to worldwide imagery to complement AeroGRID cover at very reasonable rates.

“AeroGRID is providing high accuracy data that is simple to purchase and access and saves customers time and money,” said Miles Taylor, General Manager. “Our online efforts seek to deliver exactly what the engineering sector needs providing the best coverage, accuracy and convenience,” continued Taylor. 

About AeroGRID

AeroGRID is a one-stop-shop for international archived aerial imagery providing speedy access to aerial photography from over 60 countries with off-the-shelf high resolution satellite orthophotos for many others. By marshalling an impressive network of partner’s survey aircraft and high resolution digital cameras AeroGRID is able to extend coverage around the world. Much of this extensive image library is now available via WMS with WFS metadata, the standard protocols for streaming georeferenced data over the Internet to web based applications, GIS and CAD software.

www.aerogrid.net

For further information please contact:

Miles Taylor
T: + 33 671 156 116 E: info@aerogrid.net

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.

Getmapping Selects Award Winning ‘Green’ Data Centre

Hartley Wintney, UK, June 11th 2012 - Increasing demand for Getmapping data services, has led to a move to a new data centre. The award winning 4D Data Centre not only supports greater performance but also has better green credentials. The latter has become an increasing concern for businesses and other organisations using online services, applications and data. As well as its own extensive aerial photography archive Getmapping hosts its own internet mapping applications and a complete range of Ordnance Survey professional mapping products together with the latest OS OpenData^TM. 

4D recently won ‘Green Datacentre Project of the Year’ at the recent Data Centre Solutions Awards for its deployment of new EcoCooling units in its Surrey data centre. All data centres require cooling to prevent servers from overheating and most use traditional air conditioning technology which although very effective is not so eco-friendly. The cooling technology at 4D Surrey draws warm ambient air through a wetted filter which in turn causes some of the water to evaporate and cool the air down. This in turn cools the servers.  So it’s a completely natural way of producing refreshing cool air at exactly the right temperature and with a much reduced carbon footprint. Systems like this have recently been introduced in companies like Google and Facebook, however 4D is one of the first to deploy this technology in the UK.

Running a data centre is not just about cooling servers, it is also about ‘Power Usage Effectiveness’ (PUE). PUE is calculated by dividing the total amount of power consumed by that which is consumed by the IT equipment in contrast to cooling and other overheads. An ideal PUE ratio would be 1.0 with the average quoted by a 2011 survey of 500 data centres as 1.8. 4D’s Surrey data centre has a PUE ratio of 1.146, making it one of the greenest not only in the UK, but in the world.

“We have been hosting large datasets for over ten years now and as more of our business goes online the question of our environmental credentials has become increasingly important,” said Gavin Sullivan, Getmapping’s Technical Director.

Click to read more ...

Getmapping Adds Ordnance Survey MasterMap Imagery Layer

Hartley Wintney, UK, May 8^th, 2012 - Getmapping has added the OS MasterMap® Imagery Layer by Ordnance Survey, to its data offering. Customers can now order offline, select and download image files via the webshop or stream the imagery direct to their CAD or GIS applications via WMS. Getmapping customers now have unrivalled options when it comes to imagery and can choose between Getmapping and Ordnance Survey data of Britain.

OS MasterMap Imagery Layer comprises of aerial images which have been edge matched together to create seamless coverage of Great Britain. The images have been orthorectified, so that the features in the other OS MasterMap layers align well with their counterparts in the Imagery Layer. The images have been captured under specific conditions to minimise the effects of shadow and cloud. Every image is colour balanced together with adjacent images and carefully edge matched to minimise any differences caused by variations in atmospheric conditions at time of capture. Rigorous quality checks ensure that the layer maintains a consistent standard of both positional accuracy and image quality.

Ordnance Survey’s aerial imagery is complimented by the 250 surveyors it deploys on the ground. This helps Ordnance survey to make more than 5,000 updates to its maps every day. OS MasterMap is one of the most up-to-date mapping products available. Taken together with Getmapping’s own update program the choice of imagery in terms of currency, resolution and delivery options is hard to beat.

“Now our customers have unprecedented choice when it comes to imagery,” said Dave Horner, Managing Director of Getmapping. “For the professional user our data provides the highest level of detail but in some areas the OS MasterMap® Imagery Layer may be more recent and may provide the best choice, data currency being critical to many clients. For those wishing to use a WMS feed Getmapping offers a fully maintained and updated data stream for all its imagery products so customers can be certain that they have access to the most up to date data,” continued Horner.

About Getmapping Plc

Getmapping Plc is a leading provider of aerial photography, digital mapping and web based services. With offices in Hartley Wintney, Hampshire and Cape Town, South Africa, Getmapping was the first company to have up to date nationwide coverage of Britain and pioneered online delivery of aerial photography to business and the public at large. A reseller of professional mapping, oblique photography, height data, OS maps and third party aerial photography, Getmapping services a wide variety of markets including press and media, local authorities, property and construction, environmental consultants and the public. It also provides a number of value added mapping products and services tailored to specific client needs including data hosting, online data delivery and web-based GIS. A pioneer of many online products through its website, Getmapping is the only company currently re-flying the whole of the UK at enhanced 12.5cm resolution.

www.getmapping.com

For further information please contact: Pete Bonham

T: +44(0) 1252 849423 E: peter.bonham@getmapping.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.

Getmapping Launches Maps API

Hartley Wintney, UK, April 20, 2012 - Getmapping has launched its own ‘Maps API’ which enables customers to introduce interactive maps to their websites, or web-based applications. The ‘Maps API’ provides access to Getmapping’s own hi-resolution aerial photography and high quality Ordnance Survey OpenData mapping, together with a comprehensive reverse geocoding service. With fast UK based servers and very competitive pricing the Getmapping ‘Maps API’ provides a really attractive alternative to Google and Microsoft. 

The Getmapping ‘Maps API’ is fully featured with a familiar pan and zoom interface and simple on screen buttons to choose between Ordnance Survey mapping at multiple scales, high quality high resolution aerial photography or a hybrid view. The ‘Maps API’ also boasts a comprehensive set of tools for creating map markers, for points of interest for example, plus line and polygon features. Add precise Latitude and Longitude map location and you also have the possibility for reverse geocoding to an address or place name and opportunities for geo-fencing, useful for setting predefined boundaries for neighbourhoods, catchments or designated routes.   

The Getmapping ‘Maps API’ is expected to be of interest to any business or organisation where location is important, from those who simply wish to embed maps in their websites for facilities like find nearest branch, to those that wish to build fully featured web applications that track people, vehicles or assets. The increasing popularity of mobile location based applications suggests that there will be considerable interest from the burgeoning mobile app development community focused on the iOS and Android platforms. 

The benefits of the Getmapping ‘Maps API’ over others include fast UK based servers, updated high resolution aerial photography for the whole of the UK, high quality Ordnance Survey mapping and a highly accurate geocoding service. Finally the Getmapping ‘Maps API’ is aggressively priced to provide a real alternative to industry incumbents such as Google and Microsoft.

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Getmapping’s Scottish Flight Sim Scenery

Hartley Wintney, UK, March 26, 2012 - Getmapping’s complete aerial photographic survey of Scotland will soon be available as a comprehensive set of terrain scenery for the popular Microsoft Flight Simulator, ‘Generation X’ edition. The 3rd volume, Scotland South, created by Horizon Simulations for Playsims Publishing, covers over, 30,000 sq/km and is supplied on 7 DVDs. The 4^th volume, due in April, Scotland North, will be followed by the 5^th and final release, Scotland Central, which is expected during summer 2012, so completing the entire area of Scotland including the Highlands and Islands.

Together with the existing England & Wales series these remarkable high resolution photographic scenery products provide a seamless graphical representation of VFR(Visual Flight Rules) flight for the entire UK.

The highly detailed aerial photographic scenery (at 60cm/pixel), provides crisp, sharp scenery textures, even at low altitudes and it is draped over a minutely detailed terrain mesh (at better than 5m/pixel), which realistically simulates every lump and bump of the topography in the scenery area, especially important where the landscape is characterised by mountains, valleys, towering cliffs and seascapes.

Modern computing power together with advances in remote sensing, have completely transformed Flight Sim software. The availability of nationwide high resolution aerial photography and elevation data means that armchair pilots get the same magnificent views from their virtual cockpits that pilots enjoy in real flight. The result of course is more than entertainment as real pilots can now rehearse flights and practice their VFR navigation skills over some of the most dramatic, unspoilt landscapes in the UK.

“This new scenery looks absolutely stunning, said Dave Horner, Managing Director of Getmapping. Microsoft Flight Simulator has a large and enthusiastic following and it has evolved into a sophisticated tool for pilots and flight enthusiasts alike. When combined with high quality terrain data, much of which is derived from our own stereo high resolution aerial photography, it really does become possible to practice under Visual Flight Rules and this being Scotland one can always be assured of fair weather!”

About Getmapping Plc

Getmapping Plc is the UK’s leading provider of aerial photography and digital mapping. Based in Hartley Wintney, Hampshire Getmapping was the first company to have up to date nationwide coverage and pioneered online delivery of aerial photography to business and the public and large. A reseller of professional mapping, oblique photography, height data, OS maps and third party aerial photography, Getmapping services a wide variety of markets including press and media, local authorities, property and construction, environmental consultants and the public. It also provides mapping services for specific client needs and has undertaken contracts to provide bespoke image databases. A pioneer of many online products through its website, Getmapping is the only company currently re-flying the whole country at enhanced 12.5cm resolution.

www.getmapping.com

For further information please contact: Pete Bonham

T: +44(0) 125 284 9468 E: press@getmapping.com 

Playsims

Developed by Horizon Simulation and published by Playsims, VFR Generation X Volume 8 – Scotland: South is priced at £34.99 and can be ordered from:

http://www.flightstore.co.uk

A selection of stunning images can be viewed at:

http://bit.ly/GJFNmy

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.