Corporate FAQ

Q. What is the focus of GeoVantage imagery services?
A. GeoVantage is focused on applying the latest technical advancements to its unique approach to digital aerial photography. Its proprietary technologies and process streamline the production of GIS-ready imagery from mission planning to image capture and processing to final delivery. Imagery is fully georegistered and orthorectified in both natural color and near infrared.

Q. What components make up the imagery system?
A. The system is composed of an integrated global positioning system (GPS), inertial measurement unit (IMU) and digital 4-camera array (RGB for full color and NIR – near-infrared). The external sensor is housed in a compact, portable unit that attaches to any compatible single-engine aircraft (such as a Cessna 172) and is connected to an internal computer with a touch screen display and flightline steering bar.

Q. Where does GeoVantage fly?
A. Flexible technology makes it possible to fly projects located around the globe. The required sensors can simply be shipped to the project region and easily attached to rental aircraft for imagery collection. To date, projects have been completed throughout the U.S. and Canada as well as South Africa, the Bahamas, the UK and France.

Q. What are the key markets for GeoVantage imagery?
A. This high-resolution imagery can be used for countless applications including clients in the forestry, agriculture, environmental management and urban planning markets.

Q .How is resulting imagery used?
A. Each client applies imagery data in specialized ways depending on the purpose of their specific project. Imagery applications include but are in no way limited to:

FORESTRY
    • Stand delineation
    • Inventory analysis
    • Depletion mapping
    • Damage assessment

AGRICULTURE
    • Precision agriculture techniques
    • Management of spatial variability in crop performance
    • Health and size of crop

ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT
    • Vegetation delineation
    • Pervious/impervious mapping
    • Water quality
    • Change detection
    • Analysis of large-scale environmental changes such as fire damage, flooding, erosion, or chemical spills
    • Containment and solution planning

URBAN PLANNING
    • Mapping
    • Road planning
    • Real estate management
    • Land use calculations
    • Ground crew reference

Q. How does GeoVantage compare to other aerial imagery providers?
A. GeoVantage's high tech approach to aerial photography eliminates several of the steps required in traditional film aerial photography, including the need to process and scan film to digitize the imagery. Because the system uses a digital format camera, the high-resolution images are digitized from the outset, simplifying the processing function and reducing turnaround time.

The GeoVantage system also has an advantage over most other digital aerial providers because its camera systems are designed to be compact and portable. GeoVantage does not need to maintain a fleet of aircraft to dispatch to various project sites; rather the sensor system itself can be shipped to the project region and easily fitted onto compatible single-engine rental aircraft. This means that GeoVantage can provide rapid response service and global coverage.

Q. How does GeoVantage compare to satellite imagery providers?
A. In many ways, GeoVantage imagery products complement satellite imagery. While satellites can capture larger surface areas and provide imagery of restricted areas, GeoVantage aerial imagery can be captured more precisely and with higher resolution for more detail. Also, aerial photography provides more control over environmental factors such as cloud cover, weather, season and time of day, as flights can be scheduled to take advantage of the ideal conditions requested by the client.

Q. Does GeoVantage make archive imagery available for sale?
A. While GeoVantage specializes in custom collection of imagery to best meet our clients’ specifications, archived imagery can be purchased as well. Interested buyers can contact GeoVantage with specific requests to see if appropriate archive imagery is available.

Q. Who are some of GeoVantage current clients?
A. Dozens of major corporations, government agencies and municipalities, including J.D. Irving, Domtar, NOAA and Ocean Spray, have selected GeoVantage to provide imagery for their diverse forestry, environmental management, agriculture, and urban planning applications.