Aerial survey specialist Bluesky has reported its most successful year yet following a record-breaking aerial photography season. Bluesky’s aerial surveying contributed toward a total area of 32,000 sqkm that was captured for GeoPerspectives – the country’s most up-to-date digital aerial photomap – covering Britain’s cities and countryside stretching from Glasgow to the Scilly Isles. Bluesky employed the latest imaging technology that enables the creation of 3D computer-generated fly-through maps and infrared maps that reveal the type of vegetation on the ground. The imagery is now available and can be viewed at www.bluesky-world.com

During the 2009 Bluesky’s aircraft were able to capture several cities including Manchester, Glasgow and Leeds as well as counties such as Northamptonshire, Oxfordshire, Yorkshire and Bedfordshire. “After successive years of dull summers we made the most many clear blue skies in 2009 and we broke all recent records for aerial surveying” commented James Eddy, Technical Director of Bluesky. “Aerial photography and derived map products continue to play an increasingly important part in the management of the natural environment and economic development and the creation of 3D cityscape models is the future of mapping”.

Bluesky use the latest digital imaging technology to capture aerial photography at ultra high resolution. All the areas flown to date will be produced in either 10cm, 12.5cm or 25cm resolution. The digital, map accurate datasets will be used to update the GeoPerspectives national archive of orthorectified aerial photography.

The aerial datasets are soon to be made available online at www.bluesky-world.com where visitors to the site can search, view and download digital image files. The Bluesky imagery is being used to produce digital terrain and surface models (DTM/DSM) for 3D modelling and complemented with colour infrared imagery (CIR), simultaneously captured, for vegetation analysis.

ESRI (UK) has selected aerial photography from Bluesky to include in its new GIS for Schools Programme. Designed to help teachers meet national curriculum requirements and make lessons more engaging, the programme includes a choice of Geographical Information System (GIS) software together with maps, data, lesson plans and tutorials for an annual cost of £250. The inclusion of aerial photography from Bluesky ensures schools who sign up to the programme will have access via the Internet to the latest, most detailed aerial photography for the whole of England and Wales together with most of Scotland.

The ESRI (UK) GIS for Schools Programme offers subscribing organisations a choice of GIS software: DigitalWorlds, an easy to use GIS based on ESRI technology, suitable for a school just starting with GIS, or ArcView 9.3, a more advanced GIS, completely compatible with DigitalWorlds. DigitalWorlds recently received a Highly Commended Award 2009 from the Geographical Association where it was judged as “… likely to make a significant contribution to geographical education.”

The Bluesky supplied GeoPerspectives aerial photography included in the GIS for Schools Programme provides schools with online access to the most up to date imagery, at resolutions of up to 12.5 cm for urban centres and 25 cm for the whole of England and Wales. The imagery is the perfect complement to other maps and data offered in the package, including Ordnance Survey maps, both modern and historical, 2001 census data, satellite imagery, street level mapping and economic and demographic data from the CIA World Factbook.

“Aerial photography is ideal for use in schools at both an introductory and more advanced level, as pupils are comfortable with it thanks to online mapping portals such as Google Earth,” commented Richard Pole, Education Consultant at ESRI (UK) and founder of DigitalWorlds. “We selected the GeoPerspectives imagery from Bluesky as it provided the best coverage and resolution, complementing the other map layers and data and enhancing the overall offering.”

“This is an important agreement for Bluesky,” commented Rachel Tidmarsh, Managing Director of Bluesky International. “The ESRI (UK) vision is to get GIS into every secondary school over the next five years and we are delighted that Bluesky can support this through the supply of GeoPerspectives aerial photography.”

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Aerial survey specialist Bluesky has launched a new digital map layer, which accurately models the location and extent of trees and their proximity to buildings.  Designed as a tool to aid insurance assessors, property developers and Local Authority Planners, ProximiTREE provides the exact spatial location and height of individual trees together with the circumference of its canopy.  From this information a determination can be made of the root extent and the potential impact on either existing or proposed buildings.

Building subsidence is estimated to cost the insurance industry in excess of £500 million after each dry year and is usually the second most expensive insured peril after fire. Concern about the location of trees is a major worry to house owners, not only when trees cause damage through subsidence but also because the proximity of trees can jeopardise house purchases, insurance claims, planning applications, mortgage loans and may even cause disputes between neighbours. 

“ProximiTREE is designed to provide an easy-to-use reference base for all decisions relating to the location of trees and their proximity to either existing or proposed developments,” commented James Eddy, Operations Director at Bluesky. “Derived from the most detailed and up-to-date aerial photography it is suitable for use by property developers, Local Authority users and insurance companies in fact any one involved in the ownership, management or development of property close to trees.”

ProximiTREE is derived from the most accurate and up to date aerial photography. Using overlapping images the exact location of every tree can be mapped and the height and extent of its canopy derived. ProximiTREE is suitable for use in most desktop Geographical Information Systems (GIS), web mapping applications and Computer Aided Design (CAD) packages. Both 2D and 3D versions of the map are available and ProximiTREE works alongside existing Bluesky datasets such as 3D buildings, terrain models and aerial imagery.

Website: www.bluesky-world.com

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Notes for editors

Bluesky is a UK-based specialist in aerial imaging and remote sensing data collection and processing.  An internationally recognised leader with projects extending around the globe, Bluesky is proud to work with prestigious organisations such as Google, the BBC and Government Agencies.

Bluesky has unrivalled expertise in the creation of seamless, digital aerial photography, 3D landscape/cityscape visualisations and prints and also runs a national mapping centre, providing digital mapping, satellite imagery and aerial photography including ultra-high resolution imagery of cities and towns.