Aerometrex announces the launch of a new service in very high resolution aerial surveying utilising 2.5cm GSD aerial imagery. The service is designed to meet the needs of the infrastructure sector with survey-accurate 3D vector, raster and image data for design engineering. Together with a network of ground control points, this imagery is being used to capture 3-dimensional data to traditional survey accuracies of 30mm in X, Y or Z, to the 2-sigma or 95% confidence interval, at a scale of 1:250. The data can include 3D vectors of any linear feature, point data, and surfaces such as the natural or built terrain or building roofs and outlines. Cross-sections can be generated from data strings captured using photogrammetric methods, and these datasets can be imported directly into design software packages.

The advantages of this approach are many. An aerial survey is very quick, acquiring massive amounts of information in a short time frame. It is comparatively inexpensive compared to ground surveying methods. It completely bypasses the safety issues for ground staff and disruption caused to existing traffic on road and rail projects. It is very unobtrusive, a strong selling point in projects that have political overtones. And the quantity of imagery captured usually means that projects can be re-aligned or extended without having to revisit the site. Imagery can be captured under cloud if necessary.

For more about our applications in engineering using high resolution imagery, click here.

Aerometrex has won two major infrastructure surveying projects for the DTEI.

The Aerometrex Group, via its regional office in the United Arab Emirates, has completed various aerial surveys projects for large engineering companies involved in the construction of the Palm Islands both onshore and offshore.

The high resolution photography with astonishing details provided the users with a new tool for a better assessment of their ongoing projects and a very valuable tool for planning and asset management.

The production of digital orthophotos was a total success with a geometric accuracy above our clients expectations. With this positive momentum and our clients trust, the group's regional office will continue to market its reputation as a reliable supplier of quality mapping services in the United Arab Emirates and in the Middle Eastern region.

With the motto, "we go where nobody wants to go", the Aerometrex Group was lately busy capturing thousand of images over Sudan with its new Microsoft Vexcel UCX. The difficult logistics and complex operation was carried out with our experienced team who had a good bite at this new challenge. Adverse weather conditions and political unrest were common but not stopping the motivation of our team to succeed the mission. The 8cm GSD RGB and NIR imagery provided the base for the planning of dams construction along the Nile. Imagery was delivered on time despite the hard work environment. The orthophotos production was done by our regional offices in Europe and Australia. This success story shows again the Group reliability and commitment to its clients.

Aerometrex has entered the LIDAR market, offering the services of a state-of-the-art Leica ALS-60 instrument. The equipment is currently deployed on overseas projects however we encourage existing and prospective new clients to contact us to schedule projects in Australia. Aerometrex has long-standing experience in the production of DEMs using photogrammetric methods and these same data standards and quality will be part of our LIDAR service to our Australian customers.

This May 2009, the Aerometrex Group has open a regional office in the Philippines. The group has appointed Mr. Joey Mamuyac as its Regional Manager. His extensive knowledge of the Philippines market and the group capability will ensure that our clients have excellent support and service in this region of the world. The Aerometrex Philippines website is now online.

Aerometrex has completed a number of environmental projects during the last 6 months including the Port Phillip Bay Seagrass Monitoring Project for the Govt of Victoria, the Antechamber Bay and D’Estrees Bay projects for the Govt of South Australia and a large coastal survey for the Queensland EPA. Aerometrex has built up substantial expertise in capturing offshore imagery with excellent water penetration characteristics. The challenges of capturing imagery at the right tide, wind and sun angle conditions are severe, but the images speak for themselves.

Aerometrex now has both of its Vexcel Ultracam cameras operating in Australia. The cameras will be deployed on major projects in the Northern Territory and Queensland for the next 2-3 months. Northern Australia clients wishing to take advantage of reduced mobilisation charges during this period should contact Mark Deuter, Robert Rusk or Todd Dunow at Aerometrex on 08 8361 3111.

Aerometrex delivered the 2008-9 fastlook ortho coverage of the Pt Phillip Bay Urban Development area at 35cm resolution for the Dept of Sustainability and Environment in early February 2009, well ahead of the project deadline date of 31st March. This high-quality coverage has been awarded to Aerometrex by the DSE every year since it was first commissioned in 2005-6. The imagery has been commended by DSE as a very high standard product and it is produced in a matter of a few weeks from date of acquisition. The area of the project covered this last summer was 10,540km2.

A number of Melbourne Councils updated their image databases using Aerometrex last summer; these included the City of Whitehorse (10cm GSD), City of Yarra (8cm GSD), Cities of Wyndham and Melton (15cm), and the Cities of Moonee Valley, Brimbank, Hobson’s Bay and Maribyrnong (10cm GSD). Rural Council coverages included the Surf Coast Towns (12cm), Horsham (15/30cm) and Latrobe (15cm GSD).

Aerometrex’s flagship Metro Adelaide Orthophoto Image project has been flown at 10cm GSD for the 2009 coverage. This represents a doubling of resolution from the usual 15cm resolution, and now involves the capture and processing of over 16,000 digital images covering more than 2000 km2. Aerometrex’s Adelaide clients have been enthusiastic supporters of the new resolution and have entered into long-term contracts to continue the supply of this very high-quality orthophoto coverage on an annual basis.

The NT Dept of Planning and Infrastructure has awarded 100% of its annual Aerial Photography Capture Program to Aerometrex. This follows last year’s program in which Aerometrex was awarded a substantial share of the project. Aerometrex will be flying surveys throughout the entire Northern Territory from Kulgera Roadhouse in the south to Darwin at the Top End. Aerometrex will be utilizing one or both of its Vexcel Ultracam aerial cameras on this project. Acquisition is commencing this week, 19th May 2009.

The Aerometrex Group sent 2 of its experts to Baltimore to attend the International Society of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing conference.

The Aerometrex Group had a booth at this important Gulf regional event of the mapping industry. We demonstrated very high resolution (2.5cm GSD) photogrammetric acquisition as well of our aerial coverage of the important Nakheel projects (The Palm, Dubai). A model of the Microsoft Vexcel UCX camera was on our stand and attracted a lot of attention and interest.

After the horrific bushfires that swept through country Victoria on the 7th and 8th of February 2009, Aerometrex was commissioned by the Dept of Sustainability and Environment to provide comprehensive high-resolution aerial imagery of the major fires, these being the Kinglake (Kilmore East) fire, Churchill/Delburn/Jeeralang/Wonwron fires, the Wilson’s Promontory fire, and the Horsham, Coleraine and Camperdown. The imagery will be used for many purposes including damage assessment, environmental impact, police investigation and reconstruction planning, and will be used in current Royal Commission into the Victorian Bushfires. During the first week of the crisis Aerometrex made its aircraft and camera available to the Victorian Government at direct aircraft cost only. The Kinglake (Kilmore East) image dataset was the largest fast-look image dataset ever produced by Aerometrex, involving the production of over 5,000 15cm fast-look ortho images totaling 1.36 terabytes.