Graz, Austria — April 30, 2014 — XEOS Imaging has contracted with Microsoft’s UltraCam business unit and subsidiary to purchase an UltraCam Falcon digital aerial camera system to serve customers throughout North America.
The UltraCam Falcon is offered in two image footprint sizes —14,430 or 17,310 pixels across —and two focal lengths —100mm or 70mm. XEOS Imaging selected the 100mm lens and the wider footprint, which facilitates rapid data acquisition at high altitudes to complete large area projects in the city/municipality, forestry, engineering and oil and gas markets. Project delivery time is also improved by using the UltraMap workflow software system. The highly automated processing tool handles large volumes of data and generates quality mapping products from any UltraCam flight.
“Demand for large-area mapping services has grown to the point where XEOS Imaging feels it makes sense to own a large format photogrammetric digital aerial camera, and the UltraCam Falcon fits our specifications,” said Tony St-Pierre, VP Operations and R&D at XEOS Imaging. “The balance between the Falcon’s acquisition speed and frame size gives XEOS a lot of flexibility to adapt to various project sizes and resolution requirements. The upgrade path to an UltraCam Eagle is also attractive as we continue to grow our business.”
XEOS Imaging has been producing value added imagery products (ortho mosaics, elevation data, cartography, etc.) using digital aerial imagery collected with the UltraCam family of metric cameras for a number of years. The quality of the data obtained by the UltraCam cameras was a compelling factor in the decision to buy the UltraCam Falcon at this time.
“The UltraCam brand is becoming a gold standard in the industry,” St-Pierre stated. “We can rely on the camera’s performance, and we are impressed by the level of service from the UltraCam team, pre- and post-sales.”
“Microsoft is very pleased that XEOS Imaging is adding the UltraCam Falcon as an asset to its rich pool of resources,” said Alexander Wiechert, Microsoft Business Director. “As an innovative provider of digital imagery products for many years, XEOS has the experience to obtain maximum productivity from the Falcon’s capabilities.”
About the UltraCam Falcon
The UltraCam Falcon features include:
• PAN, color and NIR data captured in one pass
• Choice between two image footprint sizes (14,430 pixels across or 17,310 pixels across)
• Choice between two lens focal lengths (the standard 100mm Pan or wide angle 70mm Pan)
• Integrated unit that contains all components in the sensor head
• Solid-state image storage system that holds approximately 7,500 images (with 14,430 pixel footprint) and 5,200 images
(with 17,310 pixel footprint)
• Compatible with UltraNav flight management and direct georeferencing system from Applanix
About Microsoft’s UltraCam Business Unit
With its operations based in Graz, Austria, and sales and support teams in North America, Microsoft’s UltraCam business unit brings more than two decades of photogrammetry expertise to Microsoft’s Bing Maps business unit. The division is responsible for the highly successful line of UltraCam digital aerial mapping systems that today include the UltraCamHawk, UltraCam Falcon, andUltraCam Eagle digital photogrammetric sensors, and the UltraCam Osprey nadir/oblique photogrammetric digital aerial sensor. Also offered is the UltraNav Flight Management and Direct Georeferencing system, designed to maximize the efficiency of UltraCam aerial mapping. Rounding out the UltraCam offerings is the fully integrated UltraMap workflow software system, with features that include high-density 3D point cloud creation, highly accurate and detailed digital surface model (DSM) generation, and ortho mosaicing capabilities based on an automatically generated DSM or traditional DSM.