Leicestershire, UK, 04 December 2012 – Aerial survey specialist Bluesky has taken UK mapping to the next level by adding height information to Ordnance Survey’s digital maps. Using detailed 3D models Bluesky has added a range of height attributes to more than 50 million buildings. The height values attributed by Bluesky to the map layers would, if added together, reach almost to the moon while the area covered by the heighted buildings is roughly equivalent to the size of Dorset. Heighted Ordnance Survey MasterMap and Ordnance Survey VectorMap Local are now available, off the shelf, for England and Wales and Scotland is due to be released in early 2013.
“We believe these products address a significant gap in the market,” commented Rachel Tidmarsh, Managing Director of Bluesky. “Users from a wide range of markets are calling out for detailed, off the shelf height mapping with cost effective and user friendly licencing. By combining the best mapping with detailed height measurements in a customer orientated package we are now able to satisfy this demand. We have already seen interest from customers in local government, utilities, insurance, telecommunication, environment and the emergency services.”
Using their own off the shelf Digital Surface Model (DSM) supplemented with highly accurate LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) data, Bluesky has developed a range of automated processes and routines to attribute height values to building polygons extracted from either OS MasterMap or VectorMap Local. From this it is possible to accurately determine building heights in relation to the underlying terrain. Coverage for both layers is already available for the whole of England and Wales and heighted MasterMap and VectorMap Local for Scotland will be available soon. Bluesky will be following its launch of a heighted building layer with other heighted feature layers such as roads, railways and rivers.
OS MasterMap provides a highly detailed view of the landscape; including individual buildings, roads and areas of land. In total, it contains in excess of 400 million individual features at scales of up to 1:1250. Ordnance Survey VectorMap Local includes features such as roads, railways, vegetation, boundaries, urban extent and buildings and is fully customisable; displaying only the information needed, how its needed.
About Bluesky
Bluesky is a UK-based specialist in aerial imaging and remote sensing data collection and processing. An internationally recognised leader with projects extending around the globe, Bluesky is proud to work with prestigious organisations such as Google, the BBC and Government Agencies. Bluesky has unrivalled expertise in the creation of seamless, digital aerial photography, 3D landscape/cityscape visualisations and prints and also runs a national mapping centre, providing digital mapping, satellite imagery and aerial photography including ultra-high resolution imagery of cities and towns. Bluesky is now leading the way developing innovative solutions for environmental applications including the UK’s first nationwide map of solar potential, citywide ‘heat loss’ maps, 3D maps of trees and their proximity to buildings and historical imagery. www.bluesky-world.com