In+ersec+ion for Spatial People

European mapping specialist Blom have completed a further aerial survey for Bristol Water. Following the success of the first aerial survey for Bristol Water in 2011, Blom were commissioned to provide further aerial survey services for a second water main project near Frome, Somerset.

Key to Blom’s survey services is the latest survey cameras mounted to fixed wing aircraft. Not only does this offer efficient data capture, but also minimizes health and safety risks faced by workers and disruption to traffic on the ground.

Nol Vincent, Senior Project Manager at Bristol Water said “This method has saved us both time and money when compared to traditional topographical survey services. There was no need to wait for Land Entry or Environmental Services to be undertaken before the survey took place. What’s more, we have found Blom’s airborne solutions a more efficient method on longer pipeline installations where timescales are critical.”

To meet Bristol Water’s requirements Blom collected 3cm resolution imagery of the entire route. This imagery was then used for subsequent mapping of all ground features at a 1:500 scale. Further mapping was completed at a 1:100 scale with the addition of two small scale ground surveys. This was then used to produce 0.5m contours of the site, providing critical information for future route feasibility and detailed design.

ENDS

CONTACTS:

Website: www.blomasa.com
Tel +44 (0)1934 311 000
[email protected]

Blom has a longstanding history assisting Government Agencies and Local Authorities in the event of natural disasters such as earthquakes, flooding, landslides and wildfires. We fly the affected areas to capture the full scale of the disasters, and the data allows us to analyse the worst hit areas and to build a comprehensive understanding of the territories affected.

In May 2012 the Emilia Romagna region, in the middle of Pianura Padana in Northern Italy, was hit by a seismic swarm which led to a number of earthquakes, measuring upwards of 5 on the Richter scale.

Following the two earthquakes on the 19th and 28th May, Blom flew and captured 70 km² of ortho imagery at 7cm GSD, and 450 km² of 10/15cm GSD of oblique imagery. The data captured was made available for the Italian Civil Defence and Regional Government and is being used as a resource for damage estimation, rescue planning activities and clear-up operations.

The imagery was rapidly uploaded to our geoserver BlomURBEX™ in order to further facilitate immediate access to the data required by the local entities affected by the earthquake.

CONTACT:
www.blomasa.com
Tel +44 (0)1934 311 000
[email protected]

Blom has successfully captured over 300,000 BlomSTREET™ single street view images for The City of Malmö, Sweden.

"The City Planning and Road Department currently use the imagery in their operations, but we envisage that all departments will soon benefit from this versatile product ", says Allan Almqvist, city engineer for the City of Malmö.

BlomSTREET™ - powered by Cyclomedia, is captured from ground level, resulting in a comprehensive, high resolution and georeferenced library of 360-degree panoramic images developed for professional users. The data is provided with an easy to use software package that enables 3D measurements and visualization of 2D and 3D information directly from the imagery.

Allan Almqvist discussed Malmö’s reasoning for choosing BlomSTREET™ - “The Blom product provides many advantages over other commercially available street view imagery. Blom has provided the tools to integrate BlomSTREET™ into our general mapping portal, Malmö City Atlas. This means that all of our geographical data is visible within the same system, combining with our existing maps, orthophotos, oblique images and now street views. This vastly reduces training costs and makes it extremely easy for any of our employees to use the data.” adds Allan Almqvist.

This technology has been developed by CycloMedia and the data capture is performed by Blom using two cameras and a GPS (Globally Positioning System) mounted on the roof of a specially adapted car.

"The benefits of BlomSTREET™ are that we have full control over the frequency of capture and which streets or bicycle paths we choose to photograph. Measurement functions, metadata and the ability to add vectors directly on to the BlomSTREET™ imagery are all key elements of the products“, concluded Allan Almqvist.

Jens Ekander, an architect at Malmö City uses BlomSTREET™ every day.
"Visualisation and measurements are often required to build an understanding of an existing site. So by using BlomSTREET™ I can quickly get a feel for a house or a street without the need to visit the location. For me Blom’s imagery is a great help".

Another frequent BlomSTREET™ user is Peter Ahlström, GIS Engineer at Malmö City. "Because the imagery has such a high resolution it’s very helpful in multiple situations to interpret orthophotos and field sketches. I also use the imagery for updating the primary maps, which serves as verification when I edit data from field measurements. I also make additional measurements myself, so it gives me the opportunity to see what it looks like on the ground and can therefore act as quality control"

BlomSTREET™ is available through our BlomWEB Viewer™ and BlomDESKTOP Viewer™, or alternatively via our API. For more information about BlomSTREET™, contact your local Blom office. 

Bristol City Council have now gone 'live' and published an online map highlighting potential untapped revenue across the region. The map, freely available on the council's website, shows the expected solar power generation if PV panels were fitted to building rooftops throughout Bristol.

Produced in part by leading aerial survey specialist Blom, a map on this scale is the first of its kind in the UK, and was funded as part of a government grant.

Nearly a quarter of a million buildings have been assessed, with a surprising third of these understood to be suitable to take advantage of the Government's Feed-in Tariff scheme. It is hoped that it will encourage residents and businesses to invest into solar energy and further boost Bristol's credentials as a leading 'Green City'.

Council Leader Barbara Janke said: 'This is another example of Bristol leading the way on the green agenda. Were the first local authority to produce a solar map, the first to be building our own wind turbines and the first local authority outside London to be setting up our own energy services company.

The work we've done on the solar map pulls together a full picture of the city's solar potential. Anyone who lives in Bristol who is thinking about the possibility of installing solar electric or hot water panels can use this map quickly and easily to find out whether it's going to be viable for them.'

Blom have always enjoyed a successful working relationship with Bristol City Council, and have previously awarded them an Ordnance Survey 'Innovation Award' for the use and integration of Blom's oblique aerial photography; BlomOBLIQUE.

'With the data now published the technology behind it has faced the first 'acid test,' and has been proven to work. Interestingly, it shows that the government's previous methodology underestimated the solar potential of Bristol by approximately 75%. We're keen to show councils across the UK just how much untapped potential there may be in their region and, with our recently captured off-the-shelf libraries, the proposition is more cost-effective than ever.' said Andy Fleetwood, Business Development Executive for Blom UK.

For further information on Blom's solar potential surveys please contact Andy Fleetwood on [email protected]

As an esteemed aerial measurement services industry leader, Aerialogics has announced a newly signed contract giving the company exclusive rights to access one of the largest geographic imagery databases in Europe. The large-scale provider, BlomASA, is headquartered in Oslo, Norway, with business operations spanning across 13 different countries. Specializing in geospatial services, Blom caters to companies, private and government organizations by providing access to its unique spatial databases composed of maps, images and 3D models. Blom's quality aerial imagery has resolutions averaging 10-15 cm per pixel, with several images reaching as precise as 4cm per pixel. Captured in a series of flights with high resolution cameras attached, the image database covers more than 4,000 European cities in detail.

The long-term agreement provides Aerialogics with access to all BlomOBLIQUE™ datasets as well as parts of the BlomORTHO™ product layer. Presenting an opportunity to create high added-value applications and services, Aerialogics will be utilizing the advanced models to expand on their highly acclaimed expertise. Already known for the accuracy of their aerial measurements, the company would be able to further increase the measurement precision of structures and properties with the additional datasets.

"Aerialogics is proud to partner with Blom and have access to their world-renowned image database and sophisticated GeoServer technology, BlomURBEX™," states Andrew Zickell, Vice President of Global Strategy at Aerialogics.

"Blom is very excited about partnering with Aerialogics to enter into a new market segment. The combination of Aerialogics' expertise and proven success in the US market, coupled with Blom's unique European coverage, provides a truly compelling offering to the European market," says Magnus Olson, Assistant Vice President of Sales at Blom Group.

Aerialogics currently serves the Roofing, Insurance and Solar industries in the United States and Canada, and anticipates the introduction of their aerial measurement services to the European market.

For additional information on how Aerialogics continues to expand their technology and knowledge capacity, please call 1-877-623-7425 or email [email protected].