USA – Pictometry International Corp., a leading provider of georeferenced aerial image libraries whose proprietary technology is used globally to capture oblique image libraries, announced today that its aerial imagery and software agreement with the Los Angeles Region Imagery Acquisition Consortium (LAR-IACII) has been renewed and expanded. (LAR-IAC is directed and managed by the Los Angeles County Chief Information Office and the County Department of Regional Planning.)
The renewed two-year agreement provides for the capture of new aerial oblique and orthophotos for the County’s more than 4,000 square miles. Pictometry is partnering with Colorado-based Sanborn, a recognized leader in geospatial technology, for the high accuracy digital orthophotos included in the new agreement.
Pictometry will capture the imagery and Sanborn will create precision orthophotos with photogrammetric methodologies to produce the imagery to customer standards.
Pictometry imagery and technologies enable users to quickly and easily access up to 16 multidirectional oblique (3D-like) high-resolution views of any property, building, highway, landmark or other land feature within a region, and Pictometry’s Electronic Field Study® (EFS), enables users to measure heights and distances on geo-referenced imagery. Both Pictometry imagery and software are typically integrated with county GIS, E911 and other data for use by emergency responders, county assessors as well as planning and development professionals.
Aerial oblique imagery of Los Angeles County was originally captured by Pictometry in 2002- 2003 and is available to nearly 5,000 users in 30 Los Angeles County cities, 10 county departments and five public agencies including: the Los Angeles Police Department, Los Angeles County departments of Regional Planning, Public Works and the Assessor’s Office; the City of Pasadena, City of Glendale, City of Carson, City of Santa Clarita, Port of Los Angeles, and the Santa Catalina Island Conservancy.
“We believe the biggest benefits of Pictometry imagery include the ability to measure on georeferenced imagery through Pictometry’s EFS software and seamlessly integrate it with our GIS information,” said Nick Franchino, AICP, LAR-IAC Project Manager and GIS Manager for the Los Angeles County Department of Regional Planning. “The image capture date on each image is a valuable reference in itself, and there are many occasions when we need to see all sides of a structure – especially when we need to identify illegal or non-permitted structures. There are valuable opportunities to use Pictometry products every day.”
Now in its second phase, LAR-IACII is an extension of a cost-sharing project for cities and agencies in Los Angeles County. The project began in 2003 and involved an agreement among participating entities to share imagery and software costs. In return, participating members each receive imagery for their respective jurisdictions as well as use of Pictometry’s EFS, Change Analysis® and ArcGIS® Extension software.
Justin R. Powers, Community Development Director, City of La Habra Heights said, “Updating the orthophoto and oblique digital aerial imagery every two years will provide much needed data to be used in the area of weed abatement, capital projects and code enforcement cases. Joining the Consortium has resulted in considerable savings compared to the cost of purchasing the imagery separately.”
“LAR-IAC data, including Pictometry’s oblique imagery, have been an invaluable asset to the GIS program in the City of Pasadena. We’ve used the data on projects related to irrigation reduction and tree canopy analysis, and have even used elevation data to build virtual models of the City,” said Brian Sims, GIS Coordinator for the City of Pasadena. Noting that with the use of Pictometry products the ability to build a library of imagery for comparison purposes will lead to even more uses over time, Sims added, “We are just beginning to scratch the surface of possible applications for Pictometry.”
