Outline

1. Options for Data Purchasers26 April, 2006Craig MolanderSenior Vice President of Business DevelopmentSurdex CorporationChesterfield, MO, USA 2006 MidAmerica GIS Symposium

2. Outline • Surdex Corporation • Basis of costs in mapping • Technology changes • Film and digital cameras • Suggestions • Q&A 2006 MidAmerica GIS Symposium

3. Surdex Corporation • Headquartered in Chesterfield, MO (~20 miles from downtown St. Louis) • 51st year of operation • ~75 employees • Strong acquisition capability and strong partnerships • R&D team focuses on software/hardware development/integration to streamline production costs • Offerings include: • Imagery/LIDAR acquisition: • 3 piston aircraft, 3 pressurized turbine aircraft • 6 film cameras • Intergraph Digital Modular Camera • LIDAR (self-integrated) • Image scanning (3 of the fastest image scanners on the market) • Digital orthophoto production • Digital surface model generation from LIDAR, digital correlation, 3D editing • Planimetric (feature) capture • GIS services: database design, population, compilation 2006 MidAmerica GIS Symposium

4. Surdex Corporation • Operations across the entire contiguous United States and Alaska • Clientele include: • Federal government: USDA, USGS, US Corps of Engineers • Defense/defense mapping/Homeland Security Mapping • State government • Local governments • Pipelines/utilities • Private engineering/environmental • Surdex is known for performance and communication • Web-based Collaborative Project Management System (CPMS) • Dedicated project management • Streamlined production emphasizing performance • Dedicated R&D group supporting production and customers with unique solutions and process flows • “Solve your customer’s problems and they will solve yours” 2006 MidAmerica GIS Symposium

5. Basis of Costs • Mapping companies are capital-intensive businesses… • Aircraft: $100K - $4M • Aerial film cameras: $150K - $400K • Large-format digital cameras: $800K - $1.5M • Airborne LIDAR systems: $250K - $1M • Image scanners: $50K - $150K • Operating with large costs… • Workstations… • Data storage…. • Aircraft hangaring/maintenance/inspections/repair… • Surdex: • Expended ~$6M in last 2 years on aircraft and instrumentation (75 people) • Full-time aircraft maintenance staff • Nearly 2 workstations per employee • Nearly 2TB of on-line storage per employee…and growing 2006 MidAmerica GIS Symposium

6. Basis of Costs • Utilization == estimated amount of use for high-expense equipment • Higher utilization == lower operating cost per unit/hour • Lower utilization == higher operating cost per unit/hour • Must exceed fixed costs, leaving only variable costs to deal with • By pushing utilization higher, operating costs and prices to the customer are reduced • Example: increasing aircraft/instrument utilization • Pursue work resulting in year-round flying (not just traditional spring and fall leaf-off periods) – other markets, customers, regions of the country, even continents • Perform as much aircraft maintenance and inspections in-house – resulting in more productive time and thus higher utilization • Consider higher-performance aircraft that can move from project to project quickly, working around weather problems 2006 MidAmerica GIS Symposium

7. Basis of Costs • What does this mean…. • Acquisition of imagery can be the dominant costs for a project – especially digital orthophotos • Allow companies to suggest solutions that minimize acquisition, thus reducing costs • As resolution requirements increase, acquisition costs become less of the total – elevation modeling begins to dominate (labor costs) • Fly as high as possible to reduce acquisition costs • Examples of acquisition costs for digital orthophotos • 1-meter (3 foot): ~70% of the total • 0.5-meter (1.5 foot) : ~40% of the total • 1 foot: ~20% of the total • 0.5 foot: ~10% of the total 2006 MidAmerica GIS Symposium

8. Technology Changes • Film, film processing, image scanning significantly better than 5-10 years ago • Can now scan imagery to 10 microns/pixel – used to be 15-25 microns/pixel guidelines • Can now scan 800 frames per day – used to be 200-300 • Can push acquisition altitude higher for same digital orthophoto quality – thus saving costs by as much as 2X • Can “re-process” acquired imagery by re-scanning to a higher resolution for additional detail • Older guidelines for mapping and photography scales may not be valid • Digital cameras – last 2-4 years • Offer multiple spectral bands from same flight (panchromatic, red, green, blue, and near infrared) – less cost for additional products (especially color infrared) • Higher bit depth accelerates automated processing (digital matching) and ability to “see into the shadows” to some degree • Much higher signal-to-noise – higher quality resulting in higher interpretation value 2006 MidAmerica GIS Symposium

9. Technology Changes • LIDAR – last 6-8 years • Ability to “see through the trees” • Day/night and nearly all-weather acquisition – optimizes utilization • Can reduce net costs of topographic mapping – combined with imagery coverage – by reducing labor costs 2006 MidAmerica GIS Symposium

10. What Does this Mean? • General rules for digital orthophotos: • Fly as high as possible – scanning at higher resolution • For detailed elevation models – use LIDAR combined with 2D breaklines collected from imagery • PROVIDED the imagery will not be used for topographic mapping at a later date – requires LIDAR data for detail 2006 MidAmerica GIS Symposium

11. Film vs Digital • Resources • ~300 film aerial mapping cameras in North America • ~30 large-format digital cameras in North America • Economics • Film cameras cost ~$200-400K and last 15-20 years • Large format digital cameras cost $1-1.5M and last 4-8 years • Which one costs more to operate – and results in higher pricing? • Digital does save film, film processing, film titling, and image scanning costs – but this is not as significant a savings as instrument vendors believe… • Digital does provide other advantages • Quality • Multiple spectral bands/products from single acquisition • “See into the shadows”… 2006 MidAmerica GIS Symposium

12. Frame Digital Systems • Much like (frame) film cameras, utilizing matrix (2D) CCDs • RGB, NIR often at lower resolution than panchromatic (B&W) bands • Color/false color infrared (CIR) requires “pan sharpening” – addition of higher resolution panchromatic data to lower resolution RGB/CIR • Most systems “stitch” images from separate cameras into a virtual (single) frame (Intergraph Digital Modular Camera, Vexcel UltraCam) • An advantage for production companies: acquisition is different than film, but production tools are unchanged • ABGPS is standard operating procedure, IMU is optional 2006 MidAmerica GIS Symposium

13. DMC In Surdex Cessna 441 (Conquest) 2006 MidAmerica GIS Symposium

14. DMC Image – ~3” GSD 2006 MidAmerica GIS Symposium

15. DMC Image (Close-Up) 2006 MidAmerica GIS Symposium

16. Pushbroom Digital Systems • Ground scenes imaged unto linear (1D) CCD arrays as the aircraft moves • Bands are separated by beam-splitters – or separate optical paths – resulting in separate alignments for bands • Require ABPGS and IMU (inertial measurement unit – angular rotations) to reconstruct geometry for each “line” of imaging • Requires different production tools – but these are becoming common/standard and offered by more vendors • Good for orthophoto programs – minimized obliquity in the flight direction • As opposed to frames, imagery is captured in “strips” or “pixel carpets” – though often broken down into “frames” for convenience or stereoscopic editing • Resolution may be gated by aircraft speed – cannot fly too fast or pixels will be “stretched” 2006 MidAmerica GIS Symposium

17. ADS-40 Leica Geosystems ADS-40 • Pushbroom scanner • Some bands are mounted off-nadir • Simultaneous forward/backward panchromatic • Multi-spectral R,G,B,NIR 2006 MidAmerica GIS Symposium

18. “Multi-Spectral” • Some digital systems actually acquire multi-spectral imagery (MSI) • Analogous to existing commercial remote sensing satellite systems • Support of “classic” classification operations • True MSI: • Defined as multiple bands acquired in non-overlapping segments of the spectrum • Not all digital cameras actually do this – many actually overlap responses for RGB bands, but separate out near infrared • Problem: converting MSI I into good rendition of natural color can be problematic…especially if bands are too narrow and/or too widely separated • As often defined in requests for proposals, “MSI” is actually RGB & CIR • Film would require multiple flights (one color, one CIR), or • Multiple cameras in a single aircraft 2006 MidAmerica GIS Symposium

19. Interpretive Value • Low signal-to-noise level of digital cameras (improved sharpness) may change data purchaser specifications in the future • Experienced users of digital systems know that digital has 1.5-2X the “interpretive value” of film-based imagery of the same resolution (GSD) • For example, a 2’ GSD digitally-acquired ortho will be as interpretive as a 1’ GSD film-acquired ortho • End-users must examine this carefully – requirements may be changed to reduce price • In-work test by Surdex • Digital (DMC) and film acquisition over a test range only minutes apart • Total of 7 different altitudes ranging from 3” to 1 meter film resolution • Orthophotos being generated to compare interpretive values at varying resolutions • Will utilize “blind evaluations” by staff and customers – GSD will not be disclosed • Within next few weeks… 2006 MidAmerica GIS Symposium

20. Digital Myths/Misconceptions… • “Direct to production…” • Aircrews must copy data to “transport” drives – (2-6 hours) – and may miss “FedEx” deadline • Reality is that data is not always in the production facility the next day • All digital systems require a “post-processing” step for radiometric adjustment, “stitching”, ABGPS/IMU incorporation, etc. – that can take as long as (or longer) than image scanning cycle for film systems • “Cheaper for the end-user”… • Digital systems ($1-1.5M) are far more expensive to purchase than film systems ($250-400K) – extremely capital-intensive • Digital systems will essentially last 5-8 years (before technology turnover) vs the 15-20 years for film systems – and may need expensive upgrades • High-resolution (1’ GSD and better) require much more terrain modeling and the net cost difference versus film may be neglible • Net effect: digital can be up to 10-25% more expensive • Digital can be cheaper when multiple bands (panchromatic + RGB + NIR/CIR) are required (which would cause multiple film flights) 2006 MidAmerica GIS Symposium

21. Digital Myths/Misconceptions… • “Film is dead…” • Less than 10% of the acquisition systems in North America are digital • Film still has its place…and is expected to be around 10-15 years • For select large programs (eg: USDA National Agriculture Imagery Program) digital systems are indeed becoming prominent: • NAIP is 1-2 meter resolution digital orthophotos (DOQQs), with long-term goal of automated classification • 2003: 10% digital • 2004: 25% digital • 2005: 40% digital • 2006: 50% digital • Owners of film cameras purchasing digital cameras: • Many opt to “add” digital cameras, since film cameras still make $ • Some have replaced film cameras in a nearly total transition to digital – depends upon a company’s business model and market verticals 2006 MidAmerica GIS Symposium

22. Radiometry • Digital offers simultaneous panchromatic + RGB + NIR (or MSI) • Film restricted to panchromatic or RGB or NIR or CIR • The primary distinguishing advantage of digital systems… • Multiple products for marginal additional price….as opposed to (costly) multiple flights for film systems • Better support of classification work (eg: impervious surfaces) • From the customer standpoint, often attracts additional project funds from hydrology and natural resources (CIR is often the key here) • Combined with greater bit depth, provides much more information that allows better automated processes such as aerotriangulation, elevation data extraction, and classification 2006 MidAmerica GIS Symposium

23. Digital – Multiple Products Panchromatic (B&W) Color Color Infra-Red (CIR) 2006 MidAmerica GIS Symposium

24. Bit Depth • Most digital systems capture up to 12 bits/pixel (bpp) of dynamic range in each band • Film systems exhibit at most ~9 bpp in production, typically 8 bpp • 12 bpp vs 8-9 bpp amounts to 8-16X more information • Digital systems have much higher signal-to-noise metrics • Film is estimated at 1.5-3.0:1 – suffers from image scanning failing to recapture all of the information on film (+ scratches, lint, dirt…) • Digital is estimated at 4.0-6.0:1 • The second most important advantage of digital systems • Can “see into the shadows” with 12 bpp • This is generally only an advantage to production (automation and compilation) efforts • Most customers are not interested in the additional 2X storage and complicated image enhancement required – though this will change over time • Extreme advantage to automated processing involving image matching 2006 MidAmerica GIS Symposium

25. Re-Exploitation • Film has a unique advantage – ability to re-scan imagery at higher resolutions for value-added products • Digital systems are constrained to the GSD at time of acquisition • Film example: 1:40,000 film scale can produce quality products at: • 50 micrometer/pixel resolution ~= 2 meter GSD (excellent quality) • 25 micrometer/pixel resolution ~= 1 meter GSD (excellent quality) • 12.5 micrometer/pixel resolution ~= 0.5 meter GSD (good quality) • 7 micrometer/pixel resolution ~= 1 foot GSD (marginal quality) 2006 MidAmerica GIS Symposium

26. Suggestions • Define the products required (format, media, accuracy,…) and NOT the process to produce them • This encourages creativity from the mapping companies • Require mapping companies to describe the processes they will use • Use an RFI (request for information) process prior to the release of the RFP (request for proposal): • Determine how mapping companies may approach the problem • Re-visit product specifications • Will result in a refined RFP that takes advantage of new technologies, new processes • Emphasize performance and qualifications over pricing for the best results 2006 MidAmerica GIS Symposium