Graz, Austria — March 13, 2014 — Jena Instruments Ltd. has purchased an UltraCam Eagle digital aerial photogrammetric camera system from Microsoft’s UltraCam business unit and subsidiary. The system is equipped with 100mm and 210mm exchangeable lenses; UltraNav, a flight management and georeferencing system that includes state-of-the-art GNSS-Inertial technology, pilot displays, and flight-planning software; and a gyro-stabilized UltraMount.
Jena Instruments provides surveying and mapping services to the mining, forestry, oil and gas, transportation, construction, environmental and utility industries, as well as City Councils throughout Russia. Jena intends to use the UltraCam Eagle immediately to complete a large mapping project.
The UltraCam Eagle is designed with an exchangeable lens system, which gives Jena the flexibility to use the 100mm lens for projects where building lean is an important consideration and the 210mm lens for high-altitude flying.
“We conducted a thorough investigation of our options before investing in our first digital aerial camera,” said Galina Bozhchenko, General Director, Jena Instrument. “We found the UltraCam Eagle to have exceptional image quality and operational efficiency, effective and user-friendly UltraMap software, and great flexibility due to the multiple lens options. Also the personal attention of a knowledgeable support team is important to us.”
“Last summer we experimented with the UltraCam Eagle in a lightweight aircraft and found the results impressive,” Bozhchenko continued. “In the past, large format cameras would only fit in larger aircraft, which are expensive to own and operate. However, the UltraCam Eagle is compact and easy to install. Now we are able to fly lightweight aircraft without sacrificing image quality and large collection capability.”
“Jena Instrument has been a valued Microsoft partner since becoming an UltraCam distributor in 2011,” said Alexander Wiechert, Microsoft Business Director. “We are pleased that Jena has made the decision to purchase and operate its own UltraCam Eagle.”
About the UltraCam Eagle
The UltraCam Eagle features a pan image footprint of 20,010 pixels across the flight strip and includes enhanced electronics for improved frame rate and less noise (72 dB signal-to-noise ratio for high image dynamic) when compared to previous UltraCam systems, and innovative high-resolution, high-performance lenses and state-of-the art CCD technology (@ 5.2 µm pixel size) for sharp images with a high dynamic range. The UltraCam Eagle is the first multi-cone large format digital photogrammetric camera to offer an exchangeable lens system with 80mm, 100mm, and 210mm options. This digital camera system boasts an integrated housing concept with all of the parts residing in a modular sensor head. The small physical form factor of the UltraCam Eagle requires minimal space in the aircraft and makes installation and operation simple.
About UltraNav
UltraNav is an integrated unit that consolidates all navigation and flight planning components for simpler installation and more economical operations when compared to similar “standalone” systems. UltraNav is comprised of embedded GNSS/inertial hardware, pilot and operator displays, and office software for flight planning and generation of exterior orientation.
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, and UltraCam 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.
About Microsoft
Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT”) is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential.
About Jena Instrument Ltd.
Founded in 2001, Jena Instrument Ltd. is one of the leading companies in the Russian surveying and mapping market. Throughout the Russian Federation and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), the company is a distributor of the UltraCam line of photogrammetric digital aerial cameras. The company is also an exclusive distributor of Optech Inc. (Canada) for ground (ILRIS) and surveying (CMS Wireless Enhanced) laser scanning systems, and a General Partner of Optech Inc. (Canada) for airborne and mobile laser scanning systems. In addition, Jena is an authorized distributor of ITRES high-performance airborne hyperspectral and thermal imaging systems. For more information, go to http://www.jena.ru/en/ or contact Svetlana Gerasimova, Head of Marketing, Jena Instrument, at Svetlana.gerasimova@jena.ru.