Mapping & GIS

Aerial Photography

Maps have evolved...

They are no longer lines and words, the white space is now full of detail. Aerial photography (or air photo) is playing an increasingly important role in the management of the natural environment and built infrastructure.

It is becoming part of everyday life with online mapping portals and use in the media. Bluesky is a specialist in the acquisition of aerial photography, the processing of geographic imagery and creation of high quality digital imagery products. By investing in the latest technology, Bluesky ensures the quality, accuracy and consistency of its aerial photographs is second to none.

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LiDAR

LiDAR provides ultra accurate and detailed height measurments of the ground The technology uses light sensors to measure the distance between the aircraft and the ground, including objects such as buildings and vegetation. It is ideal when very high accuracy height measurements are required for large areas, and is very cost effective. Off-the-shelf data, up to 10cm accuracy is available for many areas across the UK, including most major urban areas as well as rural and flood plain areas.

Bluesky’s team of experts can give you help and advice on your requirements, and will organise a dedicated survey for you if the data you require is not available, or Buy Online Now.

Thermal Imagery

Bluesky thermal imagery is an intelligent thermographic spatial information data layer for deriving property-level building heat-loss maps.

Bluesky provide an end-to-end solution, offering a cost-effective airborne thermal survey service measuring building heat-loss levels across an entire city in just one evening.

The easy-to-use thermal maps give you the confidence to pinpoint buildings and pipelines radiating excessive heat, enabling you to quickly and effectively target your problem areas. Bluesky thermal surveys are conducted with state-of-the-art sensors, under optimum conditions to provide the most vivid and clear heat-loss results.

Solar Panel Mapping

SolAR is an intelligent geographic database containing every roof in England and Wales that is potentially suitable for the installation of solar panels. It contains a variety of information about each roof that determines the level of suitability for that roof, including size of usable area, pitch and aspect.

Colour Infrared Imagery

As concerns for the environment grow, colour infrared photography (CIR) offers us a wealth of information on the health and state of the vegetation. Used in conjunction with other geo-spatial data it can assist us to make informed decisions.

During the capture of the GeoPerspectives aerial photography with the Vexcel UltraCamD and the Leica ADS40, a colour infrared image is acquired simultaneously.

3D Building Models

Derived from high resolution aerial photography, these computer drawings accurately represent the existing urban environment supporting developers, architects and urban planners to make speedy and cost effective decisions in desktop computer aid-design.

Bluesky 3D Building Models are compatible with CAD & GIS software such as Sketchup, AutoCAD, Bentley Microstation, ESRI ARCGIS along with visualisation packages such as 3DS Max, Rhino and Maya.

Mapping

Bluesky is an official partner of the Ordnance Survey and an appointed Mapping and Data Centre, and as such can directly offer you a range of fantastic Ordnance Survey Maps and other products; the most up to date that Ordnance Survey provides.

With uses from Planning Applications to a Sunday walk, Bluesky has a map for every requirement.

Historical Photography

Bluesky has an unsurpassed collection of information about old aerial photographs of the UK, from the 40s to the 90s.

Our team of experts has collated information about old aerial photography from many independent and historic archives, and made this information available to search for free on our dedicated website. So for the first time you are able to search by postcode and view the exact positions of numerous aerial photos then see what area they cover on a map, before you purchase.

Night Mapping

Daytime aerial photography is of course common place; however using specially adapted cameras Bluesky are able to photography both urban and rural areas at night. These amazing photos present our landscape in a whole new perspective. These are not just pretty pictures either; they present a host of opportunities to manage our street lighting and other nocturnal lighting. Street lights, illuminated road signs and other night-time sources of light all contribute to energy consumption and light pollution. It is all of our interests to monitor and control the amount of night time light emitted as there are impacts not only on energy consumption, but also on ecology, health and crime. There are also opportunities of dimming lights or even switching them off during certain hours.

The Night Mapping is orthorectified and can therefore be used in any GIS or desktop mapping software to be used alongside other data including daytime photography, asset inventories and crime statistics. The product is being developed further to enable users to measure the amount of light (luminance) in lux or candela.

Height Data

Detailed measurements of the height of the ground and the objects and structure on it can provide a new dimension to the understanding and management of the local, national, or even global environments. Bluesky’s range of height products are designed to take geographic information to the next dimension.

The two products from the GeoPerspectives™ range of products are nationwide and available as off-the-shelf products and to buy online. They provide a cost effective solution for a range of applications.

ProximiTREE™

ProximiTREE™ is a digital map layer accurately depicting the location and extent of trees and their proximity to buildings. Designed as a tool to aid Local Authority officers, insurance assessors and property developers, ProximiTREE™ details the exact spatial location and height of individual trees together with the circumference of its canopy.

ProximiTREE™ is an accurate map representation and database of tree heights and canopy widths derived from aerial photography. Once the highest point of each tree's crown has been measured actual tree heights are determined using an existing Digital Terrain Model.

ProximiTREE™ is delivered in formats suitable for use in desktop Geographical Information Systems (GIS), web mapping applications and Computer Aided Design (CAD) packages. It can be viewed and interrogated in both 2D and 3D GIS CAD software.