County & Municipal

Richland County, SC Multiyear Countywide Digital Orthophoto Collection

Richland County awarded 3001 a multiyear contract for acquiring digital aerial multispectral imagery and producing digital orthophotography encompassing roughly 772 square miles. 3001 collected the imagery at 0.9-inch ground sample distance (GSD) pixel size using the Zeiss/Intergraph (Z/I) Imaging Corporation Digital Mapping Camera (DMC) to produce 1-foot GSD pixel size digital orthophotos. The orthophotos are to be used by the GIS Department to update geospatial data layers.

3001 provided project management, GPS surveys, imagery acquisition and processing, aerotriangulation, orthorectification, orthophotography generation, and metadata for this project.

Methodology and Deliverables Included:

  • Mission Planning & Flight Line Shapefiles
  • GPS Ground Control Surveys
  • Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) / Airborne GPS
  • Digital Aerial Imagery Acquisition & Processing
  • Aerial Triangulation
  • Integration of 2-Meter Post-Spacing LiDAR-Derived Digital Elevation Model (DEM) and Digital Terrain Model (DTM) Data
  • Orthorectification & Mosaicking
  • Countywide Digital Orthophotography Production (1-Foot GSD)
    • 4-Band 12-Bit Red (R), Green (G), Blue (B), and Near Infrared (NIR)
    • 8-Bit Natural Color (R,G,B)
    • 8-Bit False Color Infrared (CIR) (R,G,NIR)
  • Color / Tonal Balancing
  • FGDC-Compliant Metadata

Brian Fitzgerald of Richland County, SC states, "We have been very pleased with the services provided by 3001, Inc. The data delivered under this contract were of the highest quality and their team was a pleasure to work with. We look forward to another successful digital ortho mission with 3001, Inc. in 2008 or 2009."

Collier County Property Appraiser Orthophotography, LiDAR, and GIS

3001 has provided the Collier County Property Appraiser's Office with turnkey solutions to their mapping and GIS needs since 1999. To better serve the public, the Property Appraiser's Office required the acquisition of digital orthophotography, a LiDAR derived digital elevation model, planimetric mapping, and GIS customization. The project is very unique in that the growth rate in the area justifies the annual capture of imagery and update of planimetric mapping. 3001 first flew the county in 2000, and has subsequently flown it the following four years. The first two flights were captured using traditional film techniques. The 2003 flight was flown with the ADS40, and the 2004 flight was flown with the Z/I DMC. This was the first commercial application of the ADS40 in the nation, and the first area to be flown with both the ADS40 and the Z/I DMC. This offered us the unique opportunity to truly assess the capabilities of the sensors. Orthophotos were captured to support 6-inch pixel color imagery in the urban areas (500 square miles) and 2-foot pixels in the rural (1,500 square miles). The DEM used for all ortho products was 3001's LiDAR derived elevation model. Complete photogrammetric capture of information was performed, including building footprints, roadway centerlines and edges, driveways, trees, water boundaries, manholes, and bridges.

This project demonstrated 3001's ability to provide GIS data and deploy new technology to meet NMAS and NSSDA standards. We provided the customer with an affordable product in a timely manner, experience in LIDAR and Z/I DMC over a large project area at multiple scales, and validation of the DMC as a superior approach to film. Also, we provided the County with parcel data conversion mapping and enhancements after ArcIMS and Parcel Editor extension implementation.

Orleans Parish Geographic Information System

3001 provided digital mapping and GIS services for a comprehensive geographic information system for Orleans Parish. The project was jointly funded by the federal government and Orleans Parish as a demonstration project. The project was structured around four components:

  • A homogeneous reference system consisting of horizontal and vertical GPS-based geodetic control points,
  • Large-scale topographic and planimetric base maps controlled by the geodetic reference network,
  • Property information and cadastral layers linked to COGO base maps and individual land parcels, and
  • A series of land data files spatially referenced to map overlays and the geodetic reference network.

Services and Deliverables:

  • Departmental GIS needs analysis
  • Control surveys and network establishment of more than 900 GPS points
  • Aerial photography using airborne GPS (ABGPS)
  • Aerotriangulation and photogrammetric compilation
  • Scanning and digital orthophotography production
  • Digital elevation model (DEM) production
  • Photogrammetric mapping (topographic maps with 1'contour interval; planimetric maps at 1"=100' map scale)
  • Conflation of GDT/TIGER dataset attributes to digital orthophotography and stereocompiled street centerlines
  • ArcInfo and ArcView GIS format
  • Cadastral layer of 400,000 parcels tied to monumentation
  • Large-scale utility/facility mapping (above and below ground) for water, sewer, and storm sewer networks
  • GIS data conversion, attribute creation, and application development
  • Hardware and software procurement


Digital orthophotograph with detailed parcel mapping superimposed