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 CGR France, Blom’s subsidiary in France, has signed a contract with IGN, the French National Geographic and Forestry Information Institute, for an airborne LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) survey and production of flood models in the south of France. This is a huge project for IGN and will cover all areas at risk from flooding. Blom’s data acquisition will start imminently and the project will be completed within one year.

Blom is proud to have been awarded this contract after a very demanding European tender process. “This contract is the third recent collaboration between Blom and IGN, proving IGN's belief in Blom's experience and commitment to deliver” commented Didier Mendel, Managing Director of Blom CGR France.

Flooding is a natural disaster that seems to be increasing in both occurrence and its impact on us. Each flood can put at risk homes, infrastructure and more importantly, lives. Last year areas in France saw devastating floods that were the worst since 1827. It is reassuring that flooding and its consequences now can be monitored, and the water flow can be predicted. Airborne LiDAR technology provides altitude data with an accuracy that can reach up to 10 cm on bare soil, providing an effective and low cost method to use when surveys of large geographical areas are required. These factors result in LiDAR being the best technology to use for flood risk mapping.

Producing flood models of areas at risk of flooding is part of an ambitious governmental project for improving the altimetric data base (RGE Alti) of the whole of France during the period 2010-2013.

“This strategic contract award has been achieved as a result of Blom’s unique skills base and a wealth of experience within LiDAR technology, which has given us a leading position in this market.”, comments Giovanni Banchini, CEO of Blom CGR.

Blom is able to provide a complete airborne solution, combining laser scanning with aerial imagery. The laser scanner gathers accurate data for terrain modelling while the digital camera provides imagery for quality control of the LiDAR point cloud. The imagery is also used to produce orthophotos over the area, providing IGN with a compelling solution to aide their flood mapping campaign.

For further information please contact:

Didier Mendel, Managing Director, Blom France & BeLux

Tel: +33 699 072 167

Email: [email protected]

About BLOM

Blom is a leading European service provider within acquisition, processing and modelling of geographic information. Blom maintains unique European databases with collections of map, images and models. With particular focus on online services, Blom provides data and solutions to customers in government, enterprise and consumer markets and enables partners to create applications using Blom’s databases, location based services and navigation solution. Blom has more than 900 employees and offices in 16 countries. The company headquarter is located in Oslo, Norway. Blom is listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange (ticker BLO). For more information, visit www.blomasa.com

IGN

IGN’s key missions are to produce, maintain and disseminate reference geographic and forest information in France. Heir to a long line of cartographers, IGN has been involved in all cartography-related operations in France and its territories, since 1940. For more information, visit http://www.ign.fr

photographic survey of Scotland. The whole of the country is now available in digital format, and can be supplied on disk, as specific area downloads from Getmapping.com or via a WMS feed. This is the most up to date aerial photographic survey of Scotland with over 80% captured in the last three years using the latest large format digital camera technology.

It is a significant achievement as Scotland is notoriously difficult to survey from the air for a number of reasons, the main one being the variable weather. Scotland is also very mountainous and high latitudes mean a limited flying season due to less than optimal sun angles. Much of Scotland is also under snow for at least 4 months of the year. In the early spring and late autumn the sun angle reduces the amount of available survey time to less than 90 minutes per day.  A recent break in the weather enabled the last two ‘holes’ in the 2011 survey targets, in South Aberdeenshire and Angus to be captured.

“Flying and surveying Scotland has been hugely challenging for the company, and we were lucky to get a break in the weather last week to enable us to complete our 2011 survey” said Dave Horner, Managing Director. “Even when we had multiple survey planes permanently on station in Scotland the weather proved to be a constant frustration. Our commitment to new digital camera technology and a continuous up date programme means that 80% of the coverage in the complete survey, including the Islands and Highlands is no more than three years old and without doubt the best data of Scotland available,” continued Horner.Getmapping started its aerial survey of Scotland (including the Shetlands, Orkneys, St Kilda and other islands) in 2004 flying with analog film cameras. Getmapping was one of the first companies to adopt large format digital cameras specifically aimed at helping to capture the whole of Scotland. The survey is now complete using 3rd generation digital cameras. During this time Getmapping, the only commercial company maintaining Scotland has engaged in an ongoing update programme flying year-on-year to ensure the most up to date data.