Leica Geosystems Chinese Earthquake Press Release

This press release was sent out nearly a week ago. I wanted to highlight it since I haven't seen much about it anywhere else and I think it is a great example of how rapid response applications can save lives (and hey, there's photogrammetry involved too). I won't rehash the story here since you can read about it in the press release, but I would like to highlight a few key points.

We hear a lot about how aerial photography is used for rapid response mapping, but an important consideration to the type of airborne sensor employed for such applications. On reflection, the ADS40 is a great camera for this sort of thing. Why? The fact that it is a pushbroom sensor offers a great advantage. This means it collects a "pixel carpet" instead of the typical 4Kx4K or 9Kx9K frame camera. This is critical for rapid mapping applications because the image analyst (for example, the person who saw the SOS in the press release image) doesn't have to waste time loading frames or performing a large mosaicking job with a lot of seams. They can either review the strip directly or run a quick and dirty mosaicking job that doesn't require much in terms of seam edits.

Make sure you check out the image associated with the press release (link below). It is fairly high-res when you zoom in and the earthquake damage is noticeable. You can also see from the bottom of the image that the screen capture was taken from ERDAS IMAGINE.


At any rate, I will write a Sensor Spotlight on the ADS40 in the future and highlight some of the other applications it is suited for..