Applications in Engineering

A stunning new application of large-format digital aerial imagery is providing great cost and time efficiencies for engineering design projects. Aerometrex is leading this charge with its 90-megapixel Microsoft Vexcel Ultracam D camera.

Aerial photography has been recognized as a planning tool for engineering projects during the last 40 years or more. Apart from the information content of the photograph itself, the ability to derive 3-dimensional data by photogrammetry makes an aerial survey an important first step for the planning phase of a project.

However the advent of new digital aerial cameras means that data of survey accuracy for design engineering applications can be captured from aerial surveys. It is now possible to capture digital aerial imagery with unprecedented resolution of 2.5cm pixel size (also known as ground sample distance or GSD). 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.

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