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Orthoimage - Mystic Seaport, Connecticut
Sanborn Completes Connecticut Statewide Data Collection

Mapping Project a Windfall For 169 Municipalities

Colorado Springs, Colo. (June 14, 2016)—The Sanborn Map Company Inc. (Sanborn) flight team overcame challenging spring weather conditions to successfully collect high-resolution imagery of the entire state of Connecticut and its coastline in just five weeks. Altogether, the firm collected more than 42,500 4-band, 3-inch resolution images during March and April, including more than 6,000 coastline images during low-tide conditions.

The Sanborn team, which included subcontractors, also collected more than 5,200 square miles of high-density light detection and ranging (LiDAR) data covering the entire state during the same time period. All of the data were collected during snow-free, cloud-free and leaf-off conditions, which makes them ideal for a host of products and applications.

“Our flight team did an exceptional job of outmaneuvering the unusual weather present during the collection period,” says Shawn Benham, Sanborn project manager. “Despite the elements, we were able to meet or exceed our contractual commitments by collecting 100 percent of the data on time.”

Sanborn now is focused on creating mapping products from the data, which will be delivered during the 2016 calendar year. These include 3-inch ground sample distance (GSD) orthoimagery; U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) QL2 LiDAR data; bare Earth digital elevation models (DEMs); and 1-foot contour maps. Individual municipalities and state agencies also have options to acquire additional products as needed, such as 3-D buildings, planimetrics, landcover maps, impervious surface maps and more.

Brad Arshat, Sanborn director of strategic accounts in the Northeastern United States, estimates that statewide collaboration on the project will result in several million dollars in tax dollar savings, as opposed to each of the state’s 169 municipalities acquiring its own data.

“The savings truly are astronomical when you merge many smaller project areas into a single large project because of the fixed costs associated with each mobilization,” explains Arshat.

Sanborn’s contract with Connecticut’s Capitol Region Council of Governments was made possible by a grant from the state’s Office of Policy and Management. Connecticut Governor Daniel P. Malloy notes the importance of the Sanborn data, all of which will be made publicly available according to the governor’s Open Data Initiative.

“We need to support our communities by giving them the tools to do their jobs in a modern, efficient and effective way,” asserts Malloy. “As a former mayor, I know how valuable this information is to municipalities. In addition, this information is critical to our state agencies.”

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, Web GIS™ and 3-D solutions to customers worldwide. The firm, which celebrates its storied 150th anniversary in 2016, 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.

MOBILE LIDAR Glacier National Park
Sanborn Maps Glacier and Yellowstone National Parks

High-Resolution LiDAR Data Help Ensure Effective Road Repairs

Colorado Springs, Colo. (Dec. 3, 2015)—The Sanborn Map Company, Inc. (Sanborn) has completed mobile LiDAR data collection for two corridors in Glacier National Park and one corridor in Yellowstone National Park totaling approximately 40 linear miles.

Sanborn was selected for the project to provide data that could be used to determine the level of effort and cost to resurface the roads, which are in dire need of repair. In Yellowstone alone, about 185 miles of main roads are in a structurally deficient state, with poor quality road bases failing under the weight, speed and volume of modern traffic, for which they were not designed. Harsh winter weather and short construction seasons in both parks provide additional challenges.

During the 2015 fall season, Sanborn acquired the LiDAR point clouds, which were particularly dense with 300-500 points per square meter, along with accompanying georeferenced imagery. The firm’s post-acquisition approach involved auto-filtering the point clouds in the ground and non-ground classes. The points in the ground class were used to derive road centerlines and edges of pavement, and the non-ground points were used to derive guardrails in vector format.

“This project was particularly rewarding because both of these parks truly are national treasures,” notes Arjan Mooij, Sanborn program manager. “There’s no doubt that the quality data we provided will help streamline the process for their much-needed road repairs.”

Sanborn is a mobile-mapping technology pioneer, with solid experience dating back to 2001. The firm’s advanced mobile mapping system combines LiDAR with high-resolution video to meet the accuracy required for modern engineering-grade applications and solutions. With a system delivering better than 5-centimeter accuracy and image resolution as fine as 1 centimeter, Sanborn’s mobile mapping products and services provide unprecedented 3-D detail, while offering the efficiency of data capture at vehicle speeds of up to 60 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.

LiDAR 3D Wireframe Extraction
Sanborn Helps Boulder Solar Maps Shine

3-D Building Data Foundational for City’s Rooftop Solar Tool

Colorado Springs, Colo. (Nov. 17, 2015)—In pursuit of transitioning its community to clean, local, affordable and reliable energy, the City of Boulder selected The Sanborn Map Company, Inc. (Sanborn) to optimize its 3-D building data for use as the cornerstone of the city’s Rooftop Solar Tool. The tool helps citizens determine how much electricity can be produced on their rooftop from a solar photovoltaic (PV) system, what system may work best, and estimate their system cost and payback time.

Sanborn designed a fully automated, time-saving workflow that efficiently extracted 3-D building wireframes by auto-filtering the city’s LiDAR point cloud in the ground, building and vegetation classes. Sanborn then tested and fine-tuned the parameters—depending on the land-cover and type of terrain—and the points in the building class were used to derive 2-D building polygons. Finally, the 2-D polygons were used to create bounding boxes to extract the 3-D wireframes. Altogether, Sanborn extracted wireframes for more than 40,000 buildings with this approach. The data was found to be more than 90 percent accurate, far surpassing the city’s requirement of 80 percent accuracy.

“For many community members, Boulder’s Rooftop Solar Tool will spark the conversation about what is possible in terms of personal—and communitywide—power generation. For others, it will provide the information they need to take the next step toward going solar,” says David Driskell, the city’s executive director of community planning and sustainability. “This exciting development represents a key step on our community’s path to clean, local power.”

The project has identified 553 Megawatts of potential high-yield photovoltaic capacity capable of delivering 740,000 Megawatt-hours per year. This is enough clean, renewable energy to power 70,000 American households, create more than $2 billion in local business, and offset carbon emissions equivalent to planting more than 11 million trees.

About The Sanborn Map Company, Inc.

Sanborn (www.sanborn.com) 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.