Trimble announced today new additions to its aerial imaging portfolio — the Trimble AX60, a new airborne LIDAR system; and an updated version of its Inpho processing software.
The announcement was made today at Intergeo 2013, being held this week in Essen, Germany.
The Trimble AX60.
The Trimble AX60 is a versatile system that can be operated at up to 15,500 feet above ground level (AGL), which meets the requirements for aerial survey projects such as wide area mapping, corridor mapping and remote sensing. Together with integrated flight planning and analysis software tools, the platform has been specifically designed as end-to-end solution that provides enhanced mission flexibility, rapid and efficient point cloud capture, excellent resolution, in-service reliability and high-productivity workflows. The Trimble AX60 can be installed on either fixed wing or rotary aircraft.
The AX60 has a 400-kHz laser pulse repetition rate (PRR) with a single channel downward-looking laser. An optional, fully calibrated 80-megapixel camera with forward motion compensation can be added. The camera is integrated into the sensor head package and harmonized with the laser system so that it does not need re-calibration each time the solution is fitted to an aircraft. Another key feature is Trimble’s rotating polygon mirror technology for beam deflection that can allow survey missions to be completed faster. This technology provides higher accuracy and a uniform distribution of laser points across the entire field-of-view to widen the usable swath width. Operators can reduce track overlap or duplication, or fly at higher altitudes to achieve a given resolution. Together with a high precision positioning system, integral power supplies, and an in-flight monitoring tool, the Trimble AX60 can allow operators to lower the complexity of airborne LIDAR surveys while increasing the quality of the output.
“The performance, operational flexibility and reliability of the Trimble AX60 make it an ideal solution for aerial survey companies,” said Phil Sawarynski, business area director of Imaging Solutions for Trimble’s Geospatial Division. “In addition, the Trimble AX60 has been designed as a true end-to-end solution, which includes field-proven Trimble flight planning software and Trimble Inpho analysis software. Since the hardware and software are all supplied by Trimble, operators can have confidence that the complete solution works together seamlessly, and that the flight planning and post-mission analysis suites can enable them to provide a high quality service to their customers.”
In conjunction with the new airborne laser scanner launch, Trimble also announced its Inpho version 5.6 processing software suite. Version 5.6 now includes the UASMaster module, which has been designed for the complete processing of data acquired by remote piloted aircraft systems (RPAS/UAS). The module georeferences RPAS/UAS images and generates point clouds and othophoto mosaics that allow users to create high quality deliverables for CAD and GIS applications. The UASMaster module is fully compatible with Inpho photogrammetric software modules.
The Trimble AX60 solution is expected to be available in the first quarter of 2014 through Trimble’s Geospatial Division distribution network. The Inpho version 5.6 and UASMaster is expected to be available in the fourth quarter of 2013.
A vector model displayed in orthographic projection.
Arithmetica will be demonstrating Pointfuse at Intergeo, which is being held this week in Essen, Germany.
Pointfuse is a powerful modeling engine that has been created to give professionals a fast, precise and flexible way of turning vast point cloud data sets (whether derived from LIDAR or photogrammetry) into high-fidelity vector models, the company said.
Replacing painstaking and costly manual modeling, Pointfuse uses advanced techniques at the interface of mathematical optimization and computational statistics to automatically and rapidly convert point clouds into accurate vector models that can then be manipulated using any industry-standard CAD system.
Pointfuse is fully mobile compatible, and can process data from mobile scanners as easily and quickly as from terrestrial or airborne systems. Results can be output and used on standard handheld mobile devices, making it useful for creating and viewing highly detailed models in the field.
A point cloud image of a motorway with crash barriers extracted and highlighted by Pointfuse. Data courtesy of Blom Aerofilms Ltd.
The software will also fully automate extraction of features from point cloud data, allowing the intelligent recognition, measurement and cataloguing of objects and built environments, and other forms of extracted knowledge.
George Skrobanski, chief technical officer of Arithmetica, explains the significance of this development. “Achieving the automatic extraction of features from point cloud data has been the Holy Grail for the industry. Pointfuse uses its proprietary technology to provide true automation and we believe this changes the game.”
At Intergeo, learn more at Arithmetica’s booth (Hall: 3 – Booth: D3.046).
Orbit GeoSpatial Technologies will be presenting the Clearance Checker for Mobile Mapping at this year’s Intergeo, being held this week in Essen, Germany.
“The Clearance Checker is an automatic detection tool that uses any mobile mapping lidar data to check clearances in height and width over any designated trajectory,” said Peter Bonne, vice president of business development and senior product manager at Orbit GT. “With the Clearance Checker, a vehicle contour of any designed size, is virtually driven through the point cloud over a chosen trajectory. Any collision or near-collision is automatically detected and listed for reporting, interpretation and subsequent actions. This tool is a must have for all rail- or tramway exploitation, oversize transport planning, and indeed every road and railroad maintenance or improvement project. This tool is an add-on to the Mobile Mapping Asset Inventory solution and is the first in a range of automated and semi-automated detection tools to be made available in shortly.”
Using an airborne mapping system, aerial surveying company Bluesky is expanding its international operations. The integrated system, developed by Optech, includes a LiDAR and fully integrated thermal sensor and high-resolution camera.
Bluesky is exhibiting at Intergeo 2013, being held this week in Essen, Germany.
Already proven in the UK the system, thought to be a world first, has already been successfully deployed in Northern Europe with additional projects proposed in Central Europe and the Middle East. The Bluesky system combines the Orion M300 LiDAR, CS-LW640 Long Wave Infrared thermal sensor and a CS-10000 RGB camera.
“The integrated Optech system has been very successfully used for many projects in the UK and the results have provided our customers with the highest quality data as well as economic advantages due to the simultaneous capture of multiple data types,” commented Rachel Tidmarsh, Managing Director of Bluesky International. “We are now in a position to offer these advantages to potential customers around the world.”
“Bluesky is the perfect example of an organization with the talent and vision to take full advantage of the unique capabilities of the latest Optech sensors. In addition, we are pleased that the ultra-compact and modular design of the system has made it portable and easy to install for them, further supporting Bluesky in their ambitious plans to expand their operations beyond the UK,” added Bill Sharp, Marketing Manager at Optech, Inc.
The Optech solution used by Bluesky includes an Orion M300 LiDAR (Light Imaging Detection and Ranging) system; which uses aircraft mounted lasers to accurately determine the distance between the sensor and the ground or other targets such as buildings and vegetation. Specifically designed to offer a cost effective, high performance solution at mid altitudes, the Orion M300 is ideally suited for applications such as infrastructure modelling and environmental monitoring, including flood risk analysis and forestry management.
The Optech CS-LW640 sensor records thermal infrared measurements and has already generated impressive results for recent projects. In upcoming projects it will be used for identifying heat loss from buildings, pipeline monitoring and forestry analysis. Like the CS-10000, it can be used simultaneously with the LiDAR or independently to fit the end user requirements. In addition to capturing thermal images of the target sites, the CS-LW640 camera can be mounted simultaneously with the other two sensors, providing customers with a wealth of coincident information for their area of interest; a complete solution, including highly efficient automated data processing, resulting in substantial acquisition savings.
Blue Marble Geographics announces the release of Global Mapper version 15. This major release includes many powerful updates along with a new extension interface that provides add-on functionality capabilities including the COAST tool and a new LiDAR Module. Blue Marble’s geospatial data manipulation, visualization and conversion solutions are used worldwide by thousands of GIS analysts at software, oil and gas, mining, civil engineering, surveying, and technology companies, as well as governmental and university organizations.
According to the announcement, the new extension interface in Global Mapper 15 allows third parties and customers the opportunity to create add-on applications that can be part of the software with access to all the formats and tools that Global Mapper has to offer. As part of this release, Blue Marble has created three modules; The COAST tool for cost/benefit analysis of coastal flooding incidents, an Overview Map Window application, and a new powerful LiDAR module. The LiDAR module is available for the price of another seat of the software, while COAST and the Overview Application are free. Other new extension modules from key partners are expected over the next year.
This release also features a new Mathematical Raster Calculator for multi-band imagery analysis, the ability to edit and re-calculate multiple view shed layers, 3D PDF read/write support, scripting enhancements, such as passing variables to the script from the command line, and much more. The LiDAR Module is a powerful toolbar that has totally new functionality on par with software that is many thousands of dollars more expensive. Leveraged through a toolbar for easier management and editing capabilities, the module features the ability to view, edit and reclassify points in the Path Profile viewer, robust gridding techniques for faster, extremely flexible creation of elevation surfaces, including smart decimation through binning, and other techniques. The tool also allows for automatic classification of ground points from unclassified point clouds, and support for reporting LiDAR statistics via script to a text file to facilitate QA processes and new format support for E57 LiDAR.
“Global Mapper is TRULY the GIS tool for everyone and that includes the basic user who simply needs to view data or output it to Google Earth, as well as the highly trained GIS or Survey professional working with LiDAR point clouds of a billion points or more,” stated Blue Marble’s President Patrick Cunningham “We are committed to adding the most advanced functionality at a price point that is within reach of everyone and we have again done so with this release.”
Over grits, coffee, and the airborne delicacy purveyed at the Flying Biscuit Cafe (right out of the oven, right into your mouth) in Sandy Springs, Georgia, I absorbed this high-tech homily.
You’ve heard of the European financial crisis. Trace it back to geospatial, from the Greek banking collapse, which in turn had roots in the implosion of the Greek tax system, due to a plethora of gaps, inconsistencies, and exceptions filed in a largely uncontrolled property cadastre — the register of real property, including details of ownership, precise location (by GPS coordinates), and value of land parcels.
Lose control of your cadastre (your GIS), lose the country. With global interconnections, soon the continent, if not perhaps the world economy.
For want of a nail, the battle was lost.
Jump forward, technologically, to flash lidar. Ball Aerospace created this ability to capture continuous rapid multiple laser interferometry detection and ranging (LiDAR) images/point clouds, merged with continuous high-resolution optical images, to create full-color 3D models in real time. Stitched together with GPS, this produces real-time full-motion video: interactive geo-referenced metric 3D models.
In field application, this can yield time-critical 3D mapping for urgent missions, enhanced situational awareness, battlefield characterization, and tactical mission planning. It can help with disaster-response planning and event forensics. Real-time models could be communicated with the public through easily comprehended moving images via television or the Internet. of the actual progress of a fire or flood, together with evacuation routes.
Jump again to fabfi. What’s a fabfi?
FabFi is an open-source, lab-grown system out of MIT using common building materials and off-the-shelf electronics to transmit wireless Ethernet signals across distances up to several miles. Communities can build their own networks for high-speed Internet connectivity, and access to online educational, medical, and other resources.
Simple, low-cost, and feasible in unstable environments: Afghanistan, Kenya, and any number of countries that leapfrogged telephone landlines to come quickly into the cellular era; now they can leapfrog Ethernet cable networks and even WiFi for virtual connectivity. Implement with locally available materials. Print out a 2D design file and create the pieces out of wood, metal, acrylic, clay, stone, or ice, as long as you can attach a metallic RF reflective surface to the front.
If you haven’t guessed the geospatial aspect of this, I assure you it’s there, but I’ve run out of room here.
Alan Cameron is editor-in-chief and publisher of GPS World magazine, where he has worked since 2000. He also writes the monthly GNSS System Design e-mail newsletter and the Wide Awake blog.
Last month we looked at old and new providers of oblique imagery. I mentioned what a strong proponent I am of oblique imagery because it’s such a powerful visualization tool, easily comprehended by non-GIS users. My experience with police, firefighters and the Atlanta Regional Commission demonstrate that many first responders and politicians have difficulty reading blueprints, technical drawings or maps, but can visualize an area of interest much faster with oblique imagery.
Jack Maguire, a colleague and GIS Manager for Lexington County South Carolina, coined a very descriptive phrase. He said that most non-GIS people have “map blindness,” in that they have difficulty comprehending maps even if merged with ortho imagery. However, those same users will have no difficulty getting oriented viewing an oblique image. (See my July article for a more detailed explanation). That’s why both Google Earth and MS Bing now include oblique views and even some interactive 3D models for a growing number of urban areas.
Most oblique imagery data sets are generally limited to four cardinal directions along with an ortho view. That’s why I believe 3D models are a notch above, because they offer infinitely adjustable oblique views for even better visualization. It’s the oblique views that are the key attraction of 3D models. If you observe someone using an interactive 3D model, they almost always look at multiple oblique views. I’ve never seen a 3D model user navigate to the ortho view and stay there as they navigate around a city.
PLW Modelworks
There are many ways to create 3D models, ranging from manually produced models using CAD/CAM/BIM/GIS programs to fast simple 3D modeling tools such as Google Sketch Up. Over the years there have been many vendors in the business of building 3D models, some extremely detailed and sophisticated. In my opinion the best 3D models being produced are from PLW Modelworks. Their models are very detailed, photo realistic and photo accurate. There is a precision and “correctness” to their models that is missing from many other models I’ve seen.
Most of their models are built from measurements taken directly from Pictometry metric oblique imagery. The same oblique imagery is then “draped” on each building face resulting in 3D models that are true to life and fully measurable, including length, width, height and even angular measurements from one building roof to another. This YouTube video will give you an appreciation for their models.
One aspect of PLW models important to first responders and military operators is that no part of any building in their models is cloned, textured or faked. The buildings are draped with the actual building image. If all or part of a building is occluded, then the PLW people indicate that as a black “no-data” area that looks like a black shadow. That way operators know that any window or door that is visible on a building is actually there and measurable.
Street Factory
A recent addition to 3D modeling is Street Factory by Astrium Services, which does automated 3D models as complex TINs built from existing oblique imagery. The process is advertised as photogrammetrically corrected for high accuracy with a quick turn-around in the range of several hours. Unlike PLW models where each building is a separate object in the database, Street Factory models are one continuous surface requiring extra processing tools to extract individual buildings/features and link to attributes. See the brochure for additional information. I hope to personally see their system and products soon and will let you know what I learn and observe.
Although PLW and Street Factory models are the state of the art, there are some limitations. It does take time to build the models ranging from hours to weeks if the area is large and complex. If new imagery has to be captured, the aerial flights can add significantly more time to the entire process. So, for my GIS budget, the ultimate “holy grail” of visualization would be accurate, high resolution, full color, interactive and measurable 3D models that are easy to produce and close to real time.
Well, hang on to your surveyor’s helmet; that time has arrived.
Ball Aerospace FLASH LiDAR
For several years, I’ve observed refinements of a technology developed by Ball Aerospace called FLASH LiDAR. Simply put, Ball Aerospace created the ability to capture continuous rapid multiple LiDAR images/point clouds merged with continuous high-resolution optical images to create full-color 3D models in real time. Yes, real-time full motion video resulting in interactive geo-referenced metric 3D models.
Shown here are screen shots of the system software showing the LiDAR data colored by height, the optical image captured at the same time, and the resultant full-color 3D model of the merged data in real time.
The first time I saw the system was at GEOINT 2010 where the Ball engineers had their FLASH LiDAR running in sync with a video camera creating continuous 3D fused images. That first demonstration was somewhat crude but I could see the significant potential. They’ve continued to refine the system to a point where the models now look extremely good. This is one technology that needs to be viewed as video clips which you can access through the Ball Aerospace website.
Since the capture process is fully automated, complexity is not an issue as both simple buildings and complex trees are modeled at the same speed. Since the resultant 3D model is assembled from multiple views, trees look like trees and not like bushes. Additionally, since the very accurate LiDAR point cloud is an intrinsic part of the capture process, relative and real positional accuracy suitable for targeting is continuously maintained. Another benefit of the integrated system design is that mounting the camera pod is not complex nor does the aircraft have to be modified. Installation is quick and easy on large or small fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters.
The optical sensor can be a RGB, IR, low light, night vision or multi-spectral cameras. The resultant models can be down-linked to ground computers or hand held devices for real-time viewing and analysis.
According to Roy Nelson, Ball’s Senior Advanced Systems manager, FLASH LiDAR is tailor made for time critical 3D mapping for critical missions, enhanced situational awareness, battlefield characterization, tactical mission planning and improved targeting. For emergency responders it can help with disaster response planning and event forensics. Roy also cited a discussion he had with an EOC manager who indicated that the real-time models could be a valuable tool to communicate with the public via television, kiosks or the Internet. Since the real time 3D/oblique images are easily comprehended by the public, he could show the actual progress of a fire or flood and communicate to the public evacuation needs and routes.
The Future
So, what will be the ultimate word in visualization? I saw two possibilities at recent GEOINT conferences. First, immersive virtual reality and augmented reality keep improving and are making deep inroads in many different applications. Second, Zebra Imaging, producers of compelling 3D holograms, may eventually have the real “killer” visualization product. Their ZScape holographic motion displays are full motion holographic 3D video displays that are still in the early stages of development. I can easily imagine where this Star Wars technology will be in five years when combined with real-time full motion 3D models.
GRW has purchased an Optech Gemini Airborne Laser Terrain Mapper (ALTM), adding to the company’s full realm of geospatial mapping solutions, including Digital Aerial Photography, Aerial LiDAR, ground-based Stationary Terrestrial Laser Scanning (STLS), and Mobile Terrestrial Laser Scanning (MTLS).
“The Optech Gemini will meet the increased demand for aerial acquisition, providing our clients with the latest advancements in LiDAR technology,” said Jeremy Mullins, CP, GRW’s LiDAR manager. “We have seen a substantial growth in the LiDAR market over the last several years.”
Ben Fister, PE, PLS, PSM, is principal‐in‐charge of the firm’s Geospatial Division. “GRW has always been committed to providing our clients with the best available solutions tailored to their project goals. After careful evaluation, we appreciate the technical advancements that the Optech Gemini has provided in the field of advanced aerial LiDAR solutions. It is a perfect addition to GRW’s arsenal of equipment,” Fister said.
The sensor will be utilized for a variety of projects and industries, including aviation, coal, forestry, transportation, 3D engineering design projects, and related federal, state, and municipal mapping projects.
INTRUSION SENSORS strive to have a high detection rate and low false alarm rate.
By Eric Olson and Steven Pisciotta
Ongoing threats from terrorist activities at critical facilities require early detection before the threats can reach their target and complete their mission. This has produced the need for advanced security systems to effectively detect terrorist activity, while reducing alarms caused by normal friendly activity. Automatic Threat Assessment, also referred to as Identify Friend or Foe (IFF), is the ability to automatically acknowledge alarms created by friendly assets. It can be achieved with a security system that uses GPS and geospatial data to go beyond the typical intrusion-sensor-only configuration.
The addition of a tracking system associated with friendly vehicles and personnel can provide the missing information necessary to tighten security and reduce the need to take action on alarms caused by friendly targets, and reduce the material and personnel cost of threat assessment. Tracking systems and intrusion sensors can worktogether to automatically classify an actual intruder with high confidence and without operator intervention.
The Verification Problem
Typical intrusion sensors include intelligent fences, ground proximity sensors, radar, LIDAR, and video analytics. The role of the intrusion sensor is to identify a breach and notify security personnel so they may perform verification. Table 1 shows the formal alarm types received from intrusion sensors, which strive for a high detection rate and a low false-alarm rate. For this reason, the nuisance alarm can be problematic as it reflects a real event for the intrusion sensor, but often a non-event for the security operator.
These typical sensors only provide a “suspected intruder” list. The follow-on task is to decide whether or not to reclassify a suspected intruder as an actual intruder. This process is typically a manual task and can be difficult, confusing, and time-consuming.
For instance, a landscape crew will trigger alarms. Even for very accurate systems that can uniquely track the object over a long period, it is highly likely that over the period of time the landscapers are in the area, the track will be lost, causing the system to re-alarm on the same person or vehicle, as it represents a potential intrusion.
If the landscaping crew needs to open a gate, and that gate is integrated into the facility’s access control system via a dry contact or beam breaker device, it may continuously alarm while left open, or at a minimum, in the case of the beam, each time one of the workers or the vehicle passes through the entrance. In these situations, security will either need to validate each alarm by verifying it on a camera or having an officer follow the landscaping crew throughout their route.
The existence of a friendly alarm event that needs continual validation can lead to compacency of security personnel, either not verifying it, or not verifying it in a timely manner.
Table 1. Alarm types.
Combined Detection, Location
A GPS tracking system combined with the intrusion sensors can help identify friends. Tracking systems consist of two main types of locating devices: GPS-enabled devices and wireless transponders.
Modern, low-cost GPS receivers can achieve an accuracy rating of less than 3 meters, provide an update once per second, and do not require visibility to the open sky. Wireless communication transmits the GPS data to the C2 system. A typical data set includes time, date, latitude, longitude, altitude, heading, speed, and quality of GPS signal.
The combination of intrusion sensors and tracking systems can produce automatic threat assessment. Routine situations requiring significant security involvement, such as the landscaping scenario, can be automatically managed by the system. The command and control system has the ability to know friendly targets and their location.
Further, the system can perform a check before actually alarming. In the case of a perimeter alarm, it now has the intelligence to understand, within a level of confidence, that the object detected by the intrusion sensors is the same friendly item being tracking by the tracking system. If the system determines the targets to be the same object, the alarm can be suppressed, eliminating the need for security to verify the event.
THE COMBINATION of intrusion sensors and a tracking system allows for Automatic Threat Detection.
Common Operating Picture
The integration of these types of systems is not complex in terms of how to coordinate data. Interface documents exist for these types of integration and are done on a regular basis. Typical position and target information is communicated over XML in a standard format. However, to gain these benefits, the tracking systems and intrusion sensors must all work within a common geospatial operating picture.
Advantages of geospatial or geo-referenced systems systems include the ability to easily display and control data in a map-based format, allowing tracking systems and intrusion sensors to synergistically perform automatic verification. This combined knowledge of the target’s track also allows the fusing of the GPS data and the intrusion sensor data into a single object and path, aiding security by reducing target and track clutter on his command and control or PSIM (perimeter security information system).
Take for example a guard enabled with a tracking device, performing a tour around a fence protected by video analytics enabled cameras. On a typical PSIM, a normal guard tour would result in two icons on the display, one friendly from the tracking system and one unknown from the video analytics. This scenario would also result in two similar object tracks. Security would need to review the situation and understand that this symbology represents a single target and a single track.
Integrating the tracking system with the video analytics system allows for a fusing of this data, and the resulting command-and-control symbology is a single target and a single track.
Other considerations when combining a tracking system with intrusion sensors include update rate, time and location accuracies, and overlapping coverage.
Ideally, all sensors would be synchronized when it comes to timing aspects, but this is typically not the case. Different timing between data updates and time inaccuracies can result in the inability for the systems to confidently conclude that two tracks were created by the same target. Transport delay, the transmission of the GPS data through the satellite, can also be an issue. For tracking devices, it’s vital for the data to be received by the C2 system with a repeatable transport delay. Variability in the transport delay also decreases the ability to automatically verify the threat.
Geographic accuracy of both the GPS tracker and the intrusion sensor is another important factor in data fusion. Typical GPS trackers have an accuracy rating of 3–10 meters. Actual accuracy varies based upon the visible GPS satellites, tall buildings, body worn, and RF interference. Intrusion sensors also possess an inherent accuracy. Radar surveillance may have a resolution of 1 x 1 meter at close range, but it expands at far range to 1 x 20 meters.
Intelligent fence sensors and video analytic systems can have resolutions that vary from 1 to 25 meters, based on the type of sensor and the terrain. These geographic inaccuracies can be handled to some degree by considering other factors, including heading, speed, and previous track, but it’s important to understand where these inaccuracies can occur.
Overlapping coverage of surveillance sensors also affects data fusion. In the case of track fusion, this ability is only available is areas where both a geospatial intrusion sensor exists and a tracking system is operational. If there are gaps in overlapping coverage, or areas that do not include geospatial- based intrusion sensors, then fusion is not possible in those regions.
Eric Olson is vice president of Marketing at PureTech Systems.
Steven Pisciotta is president of Remote Tracking Systems.
LizardTech, a provider of software solutions for managing and distributing geospatial content, announced the launch of GeoExpress9 at this week’s Esri International User Conference in San Diego, California, where the company is also a Platinum Imagery Sponsor and exhibitor in booth number 1704.
GeoExpress enables geospatial professionals to compress and manipulate satellite and aerial imagery and the latest version features a significant performance improvement from previous versions, LizardTech said. The latest version is four times faster than before with support for spanning multiple jobs across multiple cores. This increase in speed enables users to complete projects faster than ever before within the application.
This release also introduces Intelligent Encoding, with the software automatically reconfiguring itself for optimal performance. GeoExpress 9 automatically chooses to Encode, Optimize or Update based on the encoding operations that the user chooses, which results in high performance with minimal training, LizardTech said.
In addition, Jon Skiffington, LizardTech’s director of product management, will introduce GeoExpress 9 to the Esri attendees by giving a Demo Theater presentation titled “LizardTech – What’s New with MrSID and GeoExpress” on Wednesday, 1:30 p.m. – 2:30 p.m. at the Imagery Island Exhibit in Exhibit Hall C.
“This is going to be an exciting week for LizardTech,” said Skiffington. “We’re launching the latest version of our flagship product, GeoExpress with its new features, faster performance and updated user interface. We look forward to showing our customers the new features and receiving feedback from our users and partners.”
LizardTech will also host product demonstrations in its booth to showcase the new features of GeoExpress 9. These presentations will be held on Tuesday and Wednesday at 10 a.m., 1 p.m. and 3 p.m., with a final presentation held on Thursday at 10 a.m. Product demonstrations of Express Server software for high-performance delivery and publication and LiDAR Compressor software, which turns giant point cloud datasets into efficient MrSID files will also be available.
Last month I covered current vendors of ortho imagery with some pros and cons regarding the different sources. There wasn’t room to also include oblique imagery, so I’m covering that topic this month.
I’ve been a very strong proponent of oblique imagery for many years based on my experience as the GIS manager for the Atlanta Regional Commission, where I found that there was no single geospatial tool that had such a positive and dramatic impact on our first responders as oblique imagery. (See my 2008 article that describes why.) I felt so strongly that it could make our troops more effective and help save lives that I joined Pictometry for a few years to help promote oblique imagery military projects. At that time, Pictometry was the only oblique game in town, since it had patent protection dealing with much of the technology. However, the patent protection is ending and many new players are entering the field.
A Graflex camera circa World War I.
Early History
Few people realize that the first serious aerial surveillance collections were oblique images taken with old Graflex cameras held out of a biplane cockpit. The images were good but users soon learned that it was a nightmare to try to assemble the oblique perspective images into a large mosaic. So analysts switched to ortho imagery that could be stitched together nicely, and we’ve been pretty much stuck in that straight down world. Fortunately, sophisticated algorithms and digital image processing have changed all of that.
The underlying reason that oblique imagery works so well for visualization compared to ortho imagery is a function of our mind-eye vision referred to as anamorphic illusion. Our eyes can look at 2D images and perceive them as 3D objects if the right visual cues are present. There are some interesting examples of anamorphic illusions on the web.
So let’s look at the current sources of oblique imagery.
Pictometry International, Corp.
Pictometry has been the dominant force in oblique imagery capture for more than a decade, thanks partially to patents and surrounding technology the company has developed. Not only does Pictometry have the tools and technology to capture, serve and exploit the oblique imagery, it also amassed a huge library of images covering almost 90 percent of U.S. populated areas. Pictometry has desktop viewing software that permits users to view and measure almost any aspect related to the oblique image — x,y location, length, width, and very accurate heights, while also displaying overlaid GIS data including elevation data and contour lines. Pictometry does this by re-projecting the GIS vector data to match the trapezoidal footprint of a perspective oblique image. Pictometry also serves its extensive library of images, over two petabytes, through an online service called POL (Pictometry On Line). Users can view imagery and do the same measurements as with the desktop software.
Pictometry’s desktop viewing software.
My experience showed that the positional accuracy ranged in the 3- to 15-foot range. To meet USGS National Map standards, Pictometry developed AccuPlus, which includes ground surveys and image correction of the ortho view to meet USGS’s 30-cm product specification.
For users who want to view and use the oblique imagery inside the ortho footprint ArcGIS environment, the Pictometry engineers developed a transform tool that effectively stretches the back of the trapezoidal oblique footprint to a rectangular image that can be used just like an ortho image but with an oblique view. The only downside is that without perspective the image looks a little funny. Note this example and the fact that the garage is the same width in front as in back. This is what happens when the perspective is removed. This transform tool is now part of ESRI’s ImageServer so users can import an oblique image and the transformation is automatic. Pictometry also supplies oblique imagery for Microsoft Bing, called the Birdseye View. The imagery supplied for Bing has slightly less resolution and cannot be measured, as with Pictometry software.
The Pictometry transform tool.
Woolpert, Inc.
Woolpert has been in the oblique imagery capture business almost as long as Pictometry, but it uses a completely different technology, the push broom method. Most oblique capture systems take five oblique single frame photos — north, south, east, west, and straight down. Those oblique images show natural perspective so the image footprint is a trapezoid. Woolpert uses a three-camera system – one ortho and a forward and aft oblique image scanner. The continuous 45-degree scanning has a big benefit in that the system produces an oblique image with a true ortho footprint right out of the box, so the resultant oblique image can be viewed by GIS software as if it was an ortho image. The down side of push broom capture is that the geometry of tall buildings is distorted so that some of the buildings seem to lean toward each other.
The Sanborn Map Company, Inc.
Sanborn is a large and well-established aerial imagery firm now getting into the oblique business. Although I haven’t had any broad experience with its imagery and navigation tools, the online demo has a very slick interface and very nice quality imagery. Try it yourself. As an oblique newcomer, Sanborn’s coverage is limited, and I can’t judge its accuracy, but it has a strong reputation of producing quality work and products so it is a company to watch. Some of the company’s imagery is credited as part of Google Maps, but both are secretive as to the extent or parameters.
Fugro EarthData, Inc.
I’ve had no personal experience with Fugro data and software, but I did see a trade show demo of its software, PanoramiX. The software and imagery looked good, but as a newcomer its image library is limited and the accuracy of its imagery is unknown.
GEOSPAN, Corp.
On its website, GEOSPAN lists oblique imagery capture in addition to Street level imagery, orthophotography, 3D models, street centerline creation, and GIS feature extraction. There is no information available as to coverage or accuracy.
ControlCam
ControlCam is the newest entry into the oblique market. It is a Florida-based aerial imagery company that pioneered and perfected a process of identifying cable TV leaks through the use of aerial surveillance. The company owns and manages its own fleet of aircraft capturing both orthogonal and oblique imagery. ControlCam will soon launch a software platform, including a mobile app, that will permit clients to have quick and seamless access to the imagery with measurement tools. The sample image shown here is 2-inch GSD, very nice for a newcomer to the oblique business.
A ControlCam image.
Microsoft Bing and Google
If you have any doubt about the popularity and value of oblique imagery, just look at Bing Maps and Google Maps, the two elephants battling for eyes-on-site time. Both have incorporated oblique imagery in their viewers. Both bring up the oblique views as you zoom in from a high-level ortho image, then transition to street-level imagery. The key difference is that Bing uses Pictometry oblique images, which show a natural perspective, and Google uses oblique imagery from different sources. Bing shifts from one optimal oblique to another while Google stitches together multiple oblique images. This multiple-image stitch is good at ground level, but causes funny building lean similar to a push-broom capture (see the sample images). Both are very good for their intended purpose, but neither permits measurement, nor do they include accurate metadata.
By their own admission and licensing agreements, neither Bing nor Google claim to be authoritative GIS data sources. So be cautious how you use their imagery. Note the problem I cited in my article last month about a police SWAT team raid using Google. Another issue for federal users is FARS and licensing restrictions, so make sure your legal staff reads the fine print.
A Google oblique image.A Bing oblique image.
Other Systems
If you’d like to do a deep dive into oblique cameras and capture systems including overseas operations, I recommend reading “Systematic Oblique Aerial Photography Using Multiple Digital Cameras” by Professor Emeritus Gordon Petrie of the University of Glasgow. In his presentation he quotes the ISPRS 2008 Congress that “There is a strong movement towards combining traditional nadir images with oblique images acquired at high angles to build 3D models of cities with the texture of building walls taken from the oblique photos. For non-specialists in the emergency services (military, police, fire and ambulance), the combination of oblique and nadir images improves their interpretation while special software allows simple measurements on the oblique photos.”
The Future
I have no doubt that within a few years the zoom-in from space to orthos, obliques, accurate 3D models, ground-level imagery, and interiors of buildings will be smooth and seamless. Ultimately, accurate, detailed and up-to-date 3D models draped with actual imagery, not textures, will be optimal. This will be especially important if 3D or holographic display technology reach acceptable quality levels. 3D model creation keeps improving, and I believe that the merging of ortho imagery, oblique imagery, LiDAR, and ground-level photos with more powerful computers and software will make accurate 3D models practical and ubiquitous.
For some closing amusement, somewhat related to our current discussion, take a look at what 360 Cities is doing with very high resolution fixed panoramic cameras. Note the 80 gigapixel photo of London and this zoom-in to a London Eye giant Ferris wheel pod. Although coverage is limited to one viewer location, I could see this being one of several resources to drape 3D modes.
Visual Intelligence unveiled its new geoimaging solution, iOne Infrastructure Metric Mapping System (iOne IMS), which it calls a major technological milestone for infrastructure metric mapping and surveying. iOne IMS allows aerial imaging companies to capture more imagery and data at a fraction of the up-front investment and operating cost of competing products, allowing them to do much more for less, the company said.
Oblique Imagery of Transmission Tower Insulators from iOne IMS Sensor. Courtesy: Visual Intelligence
According to the announcement, when installed on aircraft, the iOne IMS collects ortho, stereo, forward and backward oblique, multispectral 4-band and point cloud product generation—all in a single pass. Visual Intelligence is launching the iOne IMS today at RIEGL LIDAR 2013 during the International Airborne, Mobile, Terrestrial and Industrial User Conference in Vienna, Austria. Visual Intelligence President and CEO Dr. Armando Guevara is a featured speaker at the event where he will present “The Making of the iOne IMS + Riegl: From Design to Delivery.”
“Sensor solutions for infrastructure metric mapping and surveying have traditionally been expensive, single-purpose devices that are not scalable, not flexible, hard to work with, and difficult to service and maintain,” said Guevara. “But iOne IMS represents a new generation of standards-based, multi-purpose sensor solutions that delivers the performance, quality and precision that mapping and surveying professional need to grow their businesses.”
The company reports that iOne IMS is based on Visual Intelligence’s award-winning iOne Sensor Tool Kit Architecture (STKA), which is a next-generation software/hardware foundation for high-performing, multi-purpose 2D-3D geo-imaging sensors for aerial, terrestrial and mobile applications. iOne IMS is highly scalable both in terms of collection and functionality. Customers can easily expand from a medium-format iOne system to a large-format system. Customers can also buy only the functionality they need in the short term and then add more functionality as needed later on. Traditional solutions force customers to buy more functionality than they need, which increases capital equipment purchase and maintenance cost.
iOne IMS can be mounted on airplanes, helicopters and UAVs to support a wide range of projects:
• Cadastral inventory
• Roads and rails surveys
• Construction surveys and monitoring
• Oil and gas pipeline corridor mapping
• Coastal surveys and environmental monitoring
• River and body of water surveys and water quality control
• Vegetation inventory and classification
• Forest and agricultural monitoring
• Disaster rapid response
• And many others
Finally, the company reported that the iOne IMS will be optimized for UAV, UAS and Mobile applications. Miniaturized versions will be usable in interior mapping, Building Information Management (BIM) and other mobile close range photogrammetry (3D) applications that leverage cell phone technology.
