Category: Mapping
Home / Business /
Sanborn Observes 150th Anniversary
Sanborn Observes 150th Anniversary

High-Tech Mapping Firm Celebrates Notable Heritage

Colorado Springs, Colo. (April 11, 2016)—The Sanborn Map Company Inc. (Sanborn) is well known by its customers as a cutting-edge technology firm, but its rich history often surprises many. Founded in 1866 to produce fire insurance maps, modern-day Sanborn offers high-tech mapping services that include mobile and aerial light detection and ranging (Lidar), aerial oblique imagery and orthoimagery, 3-D visualization, autonomous robotic indoor mapping, FAA-approved unmanned aircraft system (UAS) services and more.

“It’s highly satisfying to note our strong technology leadership position in today’s market while at the same time reflecting on a host of achievements comprising our 150-year legacy,” says John Copple, Sanborn CEO. “It’s a little-known fact that Sanborn even made key contributions to America’s World War II efforts.”

Celebrating Storied Success

Copple refers to when the company secretly housed classified Allied invasion maps critical to the D-Day invasion of Normandy in its historic Pelham, NY, building. That building is 110 years old this year and Westchester County has declared April 20 as “Sanborn Map Building Day” to honor both the building and company anniversaries.

Sanborn’s legendary fire insurance maps are distinctive because of their sophisticated set of symbols that precisely and clearly convey complex information. The Library of Congress Sanborn map collection includes some 50,000 editions of the maps comprising an estimated 700,000 individual sheets dating back to 1867. The maps depict commercial, industrial and residential sections of some 12,000 cities and towns across the United States, Canada and Mexico.

Focus on Innovation Drives Technology Leadership

Continually extending its rich mapping tradition, Sanborn remains positioned at the forefront of modern geospatial technology. The company pioneered the collection and delivery of digital orthoimagery. It’s now at the leading edge of collecting and processing high-resolution oblique aerial imagery and designing derivative products.

The firm boasts one of the world’s premier oblique imagery collections, which is growing by leaps and bounds. In 2015, Sanborn added approximately 2.8 million new images to its Oblique Imagery Solutions database and provides proprietary tools, such as Sanborn Oblique Analyst software, so its customers can extract the maximum value from the imagery.

Sanborn also offers 6-inch resolution orthoimagery covering the entire continental United States in both natural color and infrared products, and has one of the industry’s widest range of 3-D, off-the-shelf mapping products. These include 3D Buildings, a suite of modeling products designed for 3-D visualization and geographic information system (GIS) applications; 3D Cities for virtual city implementation; and CitySets, which comprise digital datasets covering the core downtown areas of most major U.S metropolitan areas.

About The Sanborn Map Company, Inc.

Sanborn (www.sanborn.com) is a preeminent innovator in the geospatial industry, delivering state-of-the-art mapping, visualization and 3-D solutions to customers worldwide. The firm currently operates a fleet of 14 aircraft located strategically across the United States. Embracing cutting-edge technology, Sanborn specializes in oblique aerial imagery, aerial and mobile light detection and ranging (Lidar) mapping, aerial orthophotography, 3-D modeling and visualization software and services, indoor mapping with its proprietary SPIN robot, unmanned aircraft system (UAS) sales, services and image processing, and a host of geospatial software products.

Please contact:
Jason Caldwell
(719) 593-0093
jcaldwell@sanborn.com

To view the original version of this release on PR Newswire, click here.

Sanborn Avenger UAS
Sanborn Commercial Drone Services in Full Swing

Colorado Springs, Colo. (Dec. 29, 2015)—The Sanborn Map Company, Inc. (Sanborn) announces that several of its seasoned pilots have completed extensive unmanned aircraft system (UAS) training and now are qualified to perform commercial flights with the firm’s UAS. Earlier in 2015, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) granted Sanborn a Section 333 Exemption to commercially operate a UAS.

“Our pilots are among the nation’s most skilled at performing complex mapping missions,” says Sanchit Agarwal, director of mapping operations. “Their vast knowledge and experience will seamlessly transfer to our UAS operations, putting Sanborn at the forefront of offering exceptional UAS services anywhere in the United States.”

Sanborn already has successfully completed several commercial UAS data collection projects, as well as numerous test flights to validate the system’s geospatial data collection capabilities. The efforts have resulted in unprecedented data accuracy and resolution, enabling a broad portfolio of services that include high-quality, engineering-grade digital terrain models (DTMs) exceeding 2-inch accuracy; multispectral frame imagery at sub-centimeter resolution; crisp, vibration-free video; high-resolution light detection and ranging (Lidar) data; and thermal imaging data.

In addition to providing UAS flight services, Sanborn offers a full range of professional image processing and analysis services for all UAS imagery collected. As with all Sanborn offerings, the firm’s UAS data is available as a licensed product within the firm’s cloud service, allowing customers to cost-effectively store and securely access their data around the clock. Customers also can purchase and host the data on their own servers if desired.

Several functional examples of how Sanborn serves customers with its UAS include damage assessment and response efforts, site mapping, water resource mapping, volumetric assessment and asset estimation, highway survey and accident mapping, corridor asset review, assessment, and mapping, and precision agriculture.

About Sanborn’s UAS

Sanborn’s commercial UAS is a vertical take off and landing (VTOL) platform with a hefty 15-pound payload capacity. This enables the use of a wide range of sophisticated sensors or combinations of sensors, including video, multispectral, hyperspectral and infrared (thermal). The high-performance aircraft features a full military-grade autopilot with GPS waypoints and laser altimeters that are integrated with its sensor payload, permitting pinpoint sensor control. Additionally, the rugged aircraft has demonstrated amazing reliability, including maximum stability in winds up to 50 mph.

About The Sanborn Map Company, Inc.

Sanborn is a preeminent leader in the exploding geospatial industry, delivering state-of-the-art mapping solutions to customers worldwide. The firm currently operates a fleet of 14 aircraft located strategically across the United States. Embracing cutting-edge technology, Sanborn specializes in oblique aerial imagery, aerial and mobile light detection and ranging (Lidar) mapping, aerial orthophotography, 3-D modeling and visualization software and services, indoor mapping with its proprietary SPIN robot, unmanned aircraft system (UAS) sales, services and image processing, and a host of geospatial software development.

Please contact:
Jason Caldwell
(719) 593-0093
jcaldwell@sanborn.com

To view the original version of this release on PR Newswire, click here.

Sanborn Oblique Imagery - National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, Washington, D.C.
Sanborn Expands Extensive Oblique Imagery Collection

Mapping Firm Adds Nearly 3 Million New Oblique Images in 2015

Colorado Springs, Colo. (Dec. 22, 2015)— Just as The Sanborn Map Company, Inc. (Sanborn) pioneered mobile light detection and ranging (Lidar) mapping at the turn of the century, the firm now is at the leading edge of collecting and processing high-resolution oblique aerial imagery. In 2015, Sanborn added 2.8 million new images to its Oblique Imagery Solutions line of products, including fresh coverage of 107 new cities. Sanborn now has the one of the nation’s fastest growing collections of oblique imagery products, with the acquisition of 12 million new high-resolution oblique images covering more than 200 U.S. cities during the last two years.

Sanborn offers its Oblique Imagery Solutions as a licensed product available within the firm’s cloud service, which allows customers to cost-effectively store and securely access their data around the clock. Customers also can purchase and host the data on their own servers if desired. Additionally, Sanborn’s uniquely liberal data licensing policy offers a terrific value proposition for its customers.

“We’re still in the early innings of the broad-based adoption of oblique imagery as a cost-effective way to view and analyze urban areas for a host of applications,” says Jason Caldwell, Sanborn VP of business development and sales. “As our customers continue to recognize how oblique imagery can streamline their workflows by greatly enhancing the visualization and analysis of all types of infrastructure, Sanborn will have the nation’s most current and accurate oblique data ready for them.”

When customers purchase Sanborn’s Oblique Imagery Solutions products, they also receive Oblique Analyst, the firm’s proprietary web-based oblique imagery viewer featuring a suite of tools that enables easy analysis of oblique imagery. Oblique Analyst presents all five views of a building or structure—nadir and four 45° oblique angles—and provides the ability to select any view as the primary one. A built-in compass feature lets users know the current view as they pan and zoom around a project area to analyze and extract critical information from the image.

About Sanborn Oblique Imagery Technology

Sanborn’s Oblique Imagery Solutions products comprise aerial imagery that gives users multiple views of any location. Upholding its reputation for product innovation and technology leadership, the firm captures the imagery with five separate state-of-the-art cameras at once, resulting in the highest-quality oblique data available in today’s marketplace. The imagery is georeferenced and delivered to users in a format that makes it easy to view, analyze and use effectively.

About The Sanborn Map Company, Inc.

Sanborn is a preeminent leader in the exploding geospatial industry, delivering state-of-the-art mapping solutions to customers worldwide. The firm currently operates a fleet of 14 aircraft located strategically across the United States. Embracing cutting-edge technology, Sanborn specializes in oblique aerial imagery, aerial and mobile light detection and ranging (Lidar) mapping, aerial orthophotography, 3-D modeling and visualization software and services, indoor mapping with its proprietary SPIN robot, unmanned aircraft system (UAS) sales, services and image processing, and a host of geospatial software development.

Please contact:
Jason Caldwell
(719) 593-0093
jcaldwell@sanborn.com

To view the original version of this release on PR Newswire, click here.

Sanborn Captures Imagery of Area Devastated by Waldo Canyon Fire

Image Showing Homes Burned By the Waldo Canyon Fire
The Waldo Canyon fire has impacted a number of individuals in Colorado Springs. Employees of Sanborn, an industry leader in mapping, have also been affected by the events that unfolded the week of June 24th 2012. As a member of the community, Sanborn staff felt called to action. Sanborn employees have responded with a service to the community to capture and process high quality mapping imagery and aerial photography over the burned areas. The imagery was acquired by Sanborn aircraft flying at 16,000 feet on June 28, 2012 over the Waldo Canyon fire. Employees have worked to implement the map data in a web viewer and as a web service that can be ingested into GIS desktop software to allow use of the data in any way needed to respond and recover from this epic event. ArcGIS Desktop users can download this layer file to view the June 28, 2012 imagery.

Click here to access the interactive Viewer

The imagery and aerial photography captured on June 28, 2012 and displayed in the web services is the property of Sanborn and should not be used for any commercial purpose without the express written consent of Sanborn per the terms and conditions of Sanborn’s standard End User License Agreement (EULA) 1. License Granted (a) I Demonstration License. Term of use of the Waldo Canyon Fire data under this EULA is for a period of 6 months. Contact information@sanborn.com or media@sanborn.com.

Special thanks is given to Colorado Springs Utilities and other members of the Pikes Peak Geospatial Alliance for providing access to the 2011 data which Sanborn is using for comparison purposes.