Getmapping Updates Complete Aerial Survey Of Scotland

Hartley Wintney, UK, November 14, 2011 - Getmapping has recently updated its aerial photographic survey of Scotland. The whole of the country is now available in digital format, and can be supplied on disk, as specific area downloads from Getmapping.com or via a WMS feed. This is the most up to date aerial photographic survey of Scotland with over 80% captured in the last three years using the latest large format digital camera technology.

It is a significant achievement as Scotland is notoriously difficult to survey from the air for a number of reasons, the main one being the variable weather. Scotland is also very mountainous and high latitudes mean a limited flying season due to less than optimal sun angles. Much of Scotland is also under snow for at least 4 months of the year. In the early spring and late autumn the sun angle reduces the amount of available survey time to less than 90 minutes per day.  A recent break in the weather enabled the last two ‘holes’ in the 2011 survey targets, in South Aberdeenshire and Angus to be captured.

Getmapping started its aerial survey of Scotland (including the Shetlands, Orkneys, St Kilda and other islands) in 2004 flying with analog film cameras. Getmapping was one of the first companies to adopt large format digital cameras specifically aimed at helping to capture the whole of Scotland. The survey is now complete using 3rd generation digital cameras. During this time Getmapping, the only commercial company maintaining Scotland has engaged in an ongoing update programme flying year-on-year to ensure the most up to date data.

“Flying and surveying Scotland has been hugely challenging for the company, and we were lucky to get a break in the weather last week to enable us to complete our 2011 survey” said Dave Horner, Managing Director.

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Getmapping Powers AeroGRID Pan-European WMS Service

Hartley Wintney, UK, September 29, 2011 - Getmapping which has been pioneering WMS (Web Mapping Service) services in Britain is now the force behind the AeroGRID consortium’s provision of Pan-European Imagery via WMS. AeroGRID’s WMS imagery hosted by Getmapping now includes over 2 million km² of 12.5cm to 50cm resolution imagery of Europe including the whole of Benelux, Britain, France, Germany, Spain, Denmark, and the Czech Republic.

Getmapping hosts AeroGRID Pan-European imagery plus its own extensive archive of UK aerial photography and the complete range of Ordnance Survey digital mapping at all scales down to MasterMap. It also hosts the latest Ordnance Survey OpenData.

Increasingly popular, WMS is a standard protocol for streaming georeferenced map imagery over the Internet to web based applications, GIS and CAD software. WMS feeds load only the imagery that a user actually needs to see rather than a whole dataset, which can often result in lengthy load times or delays when panning and zooming. Aerial photography which is a large dataset can put a heavy strain on a network especially when it is being accessed by many users at the same time. Having an external source available through WMS reduces network load and the costs associated with data storage, update and management. WMS is supported by all major GIS and CAD software vendors and is compatible with browser based applications and services.

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Getmapping take VisionMap A3 to South Africa

Monday 19th September - Getmapping’s South African subsidiary Geosense, has begun to deploy its VisionMap A3 camera system for aerial survey work across Southern Africa. The VisionMap A3 is a radical departure from traditional air survey cameras, enabling aircraft to fly higher and capture very large areas at high resolution. The A3 has the additional benefit of being able to capture oblique images during the same survey.

Getmapping has already successfully operated the A3 camera in its UK market, where it was able to capture data faster and more cost effectively in what is considered to be a difficult survey environment. “The A3 system enables us to capture imagery much faster than other systems, which is vital in the UK where the prevailing weather conditions severely restrict the amount of time we have to undertake surveys,” said Dave Horner, Managing Director of Getmapping. “In addition, because the A3 flies much higher than other systems it has allowed us to acquire imagery in areas such as London where the air space, at normal survey camera altitudes, is heavily restricted due to commercial air traffic.”

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Getmapping Imagery Facilitates Social Housing Management

Hartley Wintney, July 11 2011 - Getmapping high resolution aerial imagery is now in daily use by the Social Housing provider Plus Dane Group. The imagery is available to over 150 employees dealing with a wide range of projects, tasks and enquiries, from planned maintenance to solar installations.

Plus Dane Group is a Housing Association (RSL) in the traditional sense, a not-for-profit organisation that owns and manages over 16,000 properties across Merseyside and Cheshire. The Getmapping imagery, which was captured in 2010 at 12.5cm GSD (Ground Sampled Distance) is available to staff using Cadcorp‘s intranet GIS, ‘GeognoSIS’. The imagery provided the basis of a major Grounds Maintenance survey for the Runcorn and Merseyside areas in 2010 and is in daily use for handling queries, investigating ownership and decision making.

One of the more innovative uses of the imagery is in the assessment of properties within the Plus Dane estate for the ‘retrofit’ of solar thermal and photovoltaic panels, the latter to take advantage of government feed in tariffs. Plus Dane are also partners in a Liverpool City Region, Solar Power Initiative, Project Viridis. This is aimed at reducing fuel poverty for tenants and carbon emissions for landlords. The project brings together 4 Local Authorities and 12 Social Landlords to investigate the potential to retrofit up to 100,000 properties through a strategic relationship with a major utility company. Plus Dane has already issued an internal guide, which uses Getmapping imagery and GIS to identify those properties most suitable for solar installations so that investment can be targeted where the best returns will be made.

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