El Segundo, CA (April 3, 2006)— The principals of Airborne 1 Corporation, a leading provider of LiDAR services, software, and training worldwide, are pleased to announce that they have taken delivery of an Optech ALTM 3100 Enhanced Accuracy (EA) sensor. The new sensor will be the latest addition to the company’s collection of state-of-the-art airborne laser mapping systems and LiDAR assets. Following a thorough set of diagnostic tests, the ALTM 3100EA sensor will join Airborne 1’s fleet and become available for upcoming assignments throughout North America and abroad.
According to Airborne 1’s CEO, Todd Stennett, “LiDAR technology continues to improve in correlation with the ever-increasing speed of computers. Every 18-36 months, we continue to see a doubling of value offered by these enhancements. Firms can either fly higher with the same precision (reducing costs), or achieve better accuracies for a given altitude. As the value proposition improves, new markets continually open up to take advantage of the high speed, fast turnaround times, low cost per measurement, and the ability to penetrate many forms of vegetation canopy.”
With the addition of this sensor, Airborne 1 offers mapping professionals the most advanced fleet of Optech ALTM LiDAR sensors in the U.S.
Over the past six years, Gerhard Renner and Randy Rhoads, CFO and CXO of Airborne 1, have felt confident in the technical capabilities and rugged construction offered by Optech, the Toronto-based ALTM manufacturer that has been designing specialized laser ranging systems for more than thirty years. Optech’s ALTM line, with the largest installed base of airborne laser terrain mapping systems in use worldwide, is the market leader in commercial LiDAR (light detection and ranging) instruments.
Don Carswell, President of Optech, commented, “We are pleased to see Airborne 1 renewing their commitment to purchase yet another ALTM system – they have always been a strong advocate of our scanned time-of-flight technology. The 3100EA provides them with the strategic advantage of even greater accuracies and the ability to collect data at an even faster rate. We’re confident that this latest system addition to Airborne 1’s product offerings will enable them to maintain their strategic advantage in the LiDAR surveying marketplace for many years. ”
Over the last decade, LiDAR technology has taken over the digital mapping realm as the most efficient and cost-effective system for the rapid collection of digital elevation data used to generate high-resolution topographic maps. Using LiDAR sensors over traditional survey techniques has allowed companies such as Airborne 1 to achieve the rapid turnaround time and attractive cost structures necessary to comply with and surpass the requirements mandated by projects on behalf of the United States Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). As a joint venture partner on numerous Region IX projects for FEMA throughout Hawaii, California, Arizona, and Guam and other Pacific Islands, Airborne 1 has become a trusted source for collecting and processing top quality data for mapping professionals on a variety of government, utility, and other land management mapping initiatives.
Using the new ALTM 3100EA sensor, Airborne 1 will achieve greater efficiency in managing the ongoing workload of several hundred projects per year.
About Airborne 1
Airborne 1 Corporation (www.airborne1.com) provides advanced LiDAR technology and asset management for partners in the photogrammetry, surveying and mapping fields. From Turnkey Services to Software/Training, Rentals, and Fractional Ownership Plans, Airborne 1 enables professionals to effectively enter the LiDAR market without having to incur the high costs of owning a sensor. Airborne 1’s digital mapping services and solutions include a dedicated team of LiDAR surveying experts, state-of-the-art Optech ALTM sensors, LiDAR data processing analysis and application development, as well as LiDAR field survey coordination and project management. Airborne 1 is the leading LiDAR provider to U.S. photogrammetry, surveying and mapping firms.
About Optech
Optech is the world leader in the development, manufacture and support of advanced laser-based survey instruments. In addition to the ALTM, Optech products and applications include: the ILRIS-3D Intelligent Laser Ranging and Imaging System; the SHOALS family of airborne LiDAR bathymeter products, atmospheric monitoring and space-based systems, mine cavity monitoring systems, and industrial process control solutions.
For more information, please contact:
Heather Ashenfelter, Marketing Communications Manager
Airborne 1 Corporation
Phone: (310) 414-7400, ext 221
www.airborne1.com
Jim Green, Regional Sales Manager
Optech Incorporated
Phone: (416) 661-5904, ext 394
www.optech.ca/prodaltm.htm