Photo Science is currently providing digital scanning of 24"x24" black-and-white aerial photography enlargements (photomaps) that depict farm field and tract boundaries within each county for the states of Mississippi (577,699 polygons), Ohio (705,991 polygons), and South Carolina (111,826 polygons). A key component of the Common Land Unit (CLU) production process is the acquisition of source photomap information from each county and the delivery of this information to each Photo Science geospatial production center for the CLU generation effort. Each photomap is a one-of-a-kind record of the agriculture activities within the specific county—documents that cannot be easily replicated or replaced. Additionally, during the early spring through late fall, these documents are used on a daily basis by the counties as a part of their daily crop reporting activities. Photo Science mobilized a number of scanning teams to travel from county to county, to obtain photomap source information, and digitally capture (scan) the information directly while in the field. This alternative eliminated problems encountered during the execution of prior CLU tasking where 1) the source was handled once, but shipped twice; 2) the Counties were without source for long periods of time; 3) there was a risk of lost original documents during shipping; and 4) the contractor was dependent upon the Counties furnishing data. Our approach focuses on rapid image capture in a manner that ensures that CLU digitizing personnel will be able to clearly interpret the digital image information.

Using ArcGIS software, Photo Science provided a comprehensive, countywide inventory of 800 miles of storm drain. Photo Science was asked to provide a graphic user interface to allow users to easily update, retrieve, and analyze storm drain inventory information throughout the county. All storm drain facility features were digitized using ARC/INFO and adjusted to the County’s property and planimetric base map. A number of source materials were used by Photo Science to collect and transcribe the storm drain information prior to digitizing. These materials included the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission’s 1"=200' storm drain maps, construction design drawings, the County’s outfall inventory, and Department of Transportation permit files.

In response to a public outcry to improve safety and increase vehicle capacity on U.S. 219 in Somerset County, Pennsylvania, PennDOT, along with the Federal Highway Administration, initiated this project to develop and analyze the environmental, cultural, social, and economic impacts of five alternative routes for a 25-mile corridor in Maryland and Pennsylvania.

Under this project, Photo Science collected aerial photography for use as an image layer in the 3D scene as well as a source data layer from which other GIS information, required for the engineering design aspects of the job, was extracted. Topography, both existing and proposed design layers, were also generated from the aerial photography to demonstrate pre-and post-construction views of the terrain. Next, digital elevation models, imagery, and GIS layers were draped together to form a 3D view of the terrain. Once compiled, 3D GIS visualization technologies were utilized to fly-thru/walk-thru the project area in real time enabling our customers to immerse themselves in the project's "virtual environment."