Drones and Advanced Analytics Solutions Combine to Improve Business Processes, Optimize Operations and Improve Reliability
NORCROSS, GA – November 30, 2016 – Quantum Spatial, Inc., the nation’s largest independent geospatial analytics firm, today unveiled its next-generation vegetation management program, which unites advanced data collection hardware and analytics software with improved business integration and cloud-based access to real-time insights. The combination of these tools enables electric utilities to gather vegetation information and leverage advanced analytics across all of their business processes to optimize operations, reduce expenses and improve reliability.
“Utilities constantly seek ways to optimize their business through data analytics. But most of them have difficulty breaking free from the traditional departmental silos and manual processes to gain full visibility into vegetation management from headquarters to the field,” said Matt Boyd, general manager of Private Markets for Quantum Spatial. “We are changing the equation for electric utilities, enabling them to more easily acquire and analyze data, then answer business-critical questions. Our cutting-edge hardware, software and cloud-based solutions increase management velocity and deliver analytics in real time so utilities can meet and exceed their goals for user reliability and worker safety.”
Building on its unmatched resources and expertise, Quantum Spatial’s vegetation management program enables:
- Cost-Effective Data Acquisition – The addition of drones equipped with purpose-built sensors to Quantum Spatial’s fleet of fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters gives utilities the ability to choose the best, most cost-effective means of data acquisition for their needs. These remote sensing tools reduce or eliminate the need for traditional field verification, while delivering highly accurate snapshots of transmission infrastructure and encroaching vegetation.
- Identification of Vegetation Health and Species – Using sensors that support multispectral analysis, Quantum Spatial’s aerial surveys can single out species that pose the most risk in certain geographic areas and identify whether the trees are diseased or dying. This feature reduces the need for time-consuming field surveys, enabling foresters and arborists to be more efficient in their actions to preserve the reliability of transmission system.
- Prescriptive Analytics – Drawing upon Quantum Spatial’s domain expertise and investments in machine learning, prescriptive analytics classify hazardous vegetation into risk classes so that management efforts can be optimized for reliability and costs simultaneously. These analytics, coupled with integration to weather and climate indicators, can be used for dynamic alerting as environmental conditions change.
- Cloud-based Access to Real-Time Analytics – Quantum inSITE™, the first scalable, cloud-based platform that enables utilities to create and manage a single source of location-based data across the entire organization, gives users in the office and in the field real-time access to actionable analytics to support businesses processes. Because field staff often work in remote areas, the module enables them to work offline and automatically updates records when they have connectivity. All field data syncs with the Quantum inSITE database, providing real-time snapshots for managers and a historical baseline for future field work.
Quantum inSITE supports integration with a wide range of existing utility management systems for accounting, engineering and operations. This tight integration supports closed-loop processes, ensuring data stays current so vegetation management teams can direct daily duties to maximize budget and infrastructure reliability.
For more information about Quantum Spatial’s next-generation Vegetation Management program, visit the Quantum Spatial Utility Solutions page or email to
About Quantum Spatial, Inc.
Quantum Spatial, Inc., (QSI) the nation’s largest independent geospatial analytics firm, provides geographic insights to the largest government and corporate organizations that need geospatial intelligence to mitigate risk, plan for growth, better manage resources and advance scientific understanding. A pioneer in advanced mapping technology, QSI’s end-to-end solutions and services deliver the industry’s highest data quality and accuracy, while leveraging the widest array of technologies for analyzing all types of terrains. Customers use the company’s acquisition, processing, analytics and visualization solutions in a range of technical and scientific disciplines – from geology and biology, to hydrology, forestry and civil engineering. Utilities, oil and gas producers, engineering and construction firms, as well as the military and major government agencies, are QSI customers. QSI has multiple offices around the country. For more information visit quantumspatial.com, join us on LinkedIn or follow us on Twitter @QuantumSpatial.