Kissimmee, Florida, January 14th, 2022. Lead’Air Inc. has successfully delivered the Digital Sensor System Version 6 (DSSV6) to the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) National Geodetic Survey in time to respond to the end of the 2021 Hurricane season.
The DSSV6 is the latest camera system ordered from Applanix/Trimble by NOAA to replace their successful but aging Applanix DSSV5 system. Applanix entirely entrusted the design and manufacturing of the DSSV6 to Lead’Air Inc, a US corporation located near Orlando, Florida. For more than 20 years, Lead’Air engineering has created unique custom aerial camera systems which are used worldwide. The Lead’Air DSSV6 has been deployed by NOAA during the 2021 hurricane season (Henri, Ida, etc) yielding precisely the results that NOAA envisioned for their new camera system. Lead’Air will continue in 2022 the development, production, and sales of the DSSV6 system as well as other Lead’Air DSS-derived products.
The DSSV6 is a multi-function system that allows NOAA to either operate in conventional vertical nadir mode for their coastal mapping program or in wide coverage oblique mode for their ER (Emergency Response) program. NOAA's ER missions can be flown without prior flight-planning to save time and to gain flexibility. The DSSV6 uses real time navigation to guide the pilot to the area of interest and allows them to map at the appropriate altitude and to follow features such as roadways and the coastline. The forward overlap is accurately maintained regardless of the pilot's input (speed changes, climbing to a new altitude, descending, turning, etc). The ER missions along shorelines are flown mostly with a single pass, which often are over half water or all water (oil spills, damaged offshore platforms, etc.). This kind of mapping requires an extremely powerful direct georeferencing workflow which Applanix supplies. During an ER mission the turnaround time is critical, the imagery is therefore developed by the DSSV6 in real-time and onboard the airplane during the flight so that NOAA can upload the imagery and make a map immediately upon landing. The DSSV6 combined with NOAA’s advanced workflow is undoubtedly the fastest aerial mapping system in the world: Within hours of being captured, NOAA’s orthophotos maps are made available online to first responders, insurance companies, federal agencies, etc., as well as to the public (at https://storms.ngs.noaa.gov/).
The DSSV6 uses Phase One imaging technology, comprising two full color (RGB) cameras and two near-infrared (NIR) cameras. The cameras are used in pairs, either RGB + NIR in the nadir mapping mode or RGB + RGB in the wide oblique ER mode. The operator can switch at will in the air between vertical mapping mode and wide oblique mode. The exceptional image quality and shutter speeds of Phase One’s full-frame 150MP cameras were central to the development of the DSSV6. Applanix’ s high-accuracy direct georeferencing (DG) technology (an Applanix AP60 inertial navigation system coupled with Applanix POSPac™ post-processing software) is the key to the DSSV6 ability to map at high speed with centimeter-level accuracy without the need for ground control or aerial triangulation.
The DSSV6 combines some of the best aerial mapping technology available to date, Phase One’s imaging technologies, Applanix high-accuracy direct georeferencing (DG) technology and Lead’Air ability to design and manufacture state of the art aerial camera systems.
The final key element is NOAA's post-processing workflow. Thanks to the real time in air image development that is part of the DSSV6 functionalities, the flight crew can immediately upload the data set upon landing to the “cloud” for processing. Thanks to the Lead’Air DSSV6, NOAA post-mission processing is the fastest and most efficient system there is. During Hurricane Ida, NOAA collected thousands of images which were up available on the internet within hours of the mission. This is a genuine accomplishment in the field of orthorectified georeferenced imagery.
About NOAA
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is an American scientific and regulatory agency within the United States Department of Commerce that forecasts weather, monitors oceanic and atmospheric conditions, charts the seas, conducts deep sea exploration, and manages fishing and protection of marine mammals and endangered species in the U.S. exclusive economic zone. For more information, visit: www.noaa.gov.
About Lead’Air
Lead'Air Inc. is a Florida Corporation that develops, designs, manufactures, and sells high performance aerial survey equipment and flight management solutions tailor-made to the specific needs of its aerial survey industry clients. First established in 1995 as Track'Air BV in Europe then as Lead'Air Inc in 2001 in the USA, Lead'Air has delivered 100's of aerial systems worldwide, with an established reputation for quality and support. For more information visit: trackair.us/.
About Phase One
Phase One is a leading researcher, developer and manufacturer of medium format and large format digital cameras, software, and imaging solutions. A pioneer of digital photography. Phase One provides the world’s highest image quality in terms of resolution, dynamic range, color fidelity and geometric accuracy. As such, Phase One has grown to become the leading provider of high-end imaging technology across many business segments. This includes both hardware and software for aerial mapping, industrial inspection, and cultural heritage digitization, as well as serving the world’s most demanding photographers.
