Imagery used by more than 30 cities and agencies in Los Angeles County

ROCHESTER, NY – June 3, 2008 – Pictometry International Corp., a leading provider of geo-referenced aerial image libraries whose proprietary technology is used globally to capture oblique image libraries, announced today that its aerial imagery and software agreement with the Los Angeles Region Imagery Acquisition Consortium (LAR-IAC) has been renewed and expanded. (LAR-IAC is directed and managed by the Los Angeles County Chief Information Office and the County Department of Regional Planning.)

The renewed two-year agreement provides for the capture of new aerial oblique and orthophotos for the County’s more than 4,000 square miles. Pictometry is partnering with Colorado-based Sanborn, a recognized leader in geospatial technology, for the high-accuracy digital orthophotos included in the new agreement. Pictometry will capture the imagery and Sanborn will create precision orthophotos with photogrammetric methodologies to produce the imagery to customer standards.

“We expect significant cost savings from this agreement because fewer flights are required, so more Los Angeles County cities and agencies can afford this critical visual information. That translates to better service to the 10 million County residents who ultimately benefit from lower government costs, a better application of resources, and more efficient government operations,” said Mark Greninger, LAR-IAC Project Director, Geographic Information Officer County of Los Angeles.

“We are very pleased anytime we can make 1 + 1 equal 3 for our customers. By providing both professional grade orthogonal imagery as well as oblique imagery at a major cost savings we’ve done just that,” said Dan Pennacchia, Pictometry’s Chief Marketing Officer.

Pictometry imagery and technologies enable users to quickly and easily access up to 16 multi-directional oblique (3D-like) high-resolution views of any property, building, highway, landmark or other land feature within a region, and Pictometry’s Electronic Field Study® (EFS), enables users to measure heights and distances on geo-referenced imagery. Both Pictometry imagery and software are typically integrated with county GIS, E911 and other data for use by emergency responders, county assessors as well as planning and development professionals.

Aerial oblique imagery of Los Angeles County was originally captured by Pictometry in 2002-2003 and is available to nearly 5,000 users in 30 Los Angeles County cities, 10 county departments and five public agencies including: the Los Angeles Police Department, Los Angeles County departments of Regional Planning, Public Works and the Assessor’s Office; the City of Pasadena, City of Glendale, City of Carson, City of Santa Clarita, Port of Los Angeles, and the Santa Catalina Island Conservancy.

“We believe the biggest benefits of Pictometry imagery include the ability to measure on geo-referenced imagery through Pictometry’s EFS software and seamlessly integrate it with our GIS information,” said Nick Franchino, AICP, LAR-IAC Project Manager and GIS Manager for the Los Angeles County Department of Regional Planning. “The image capture date on each image is a valuable reference in itself, and there are many occasions when we need to see all sides of a structure – especially when we need to identify illegal or non-permitted structures. There are valuable opportunities to use Pictometry products every day.”

Now in its second phase, LAR-IACII is an extension of a cost-sharing project for cities and agencies in Los Angeles County. The project began in 2003 and involved an agreement among participating entities to share imagery and software costs. In return, participating members each receive imagery for their respective jurisdictions as well as use of Pictometry’s EFS, Change Analysis® and ArcGIS® Extension software.

Justin R. Powers, Community Development Director, City of La Habra Heights said, “Updating the orthophoto and oblique digital aerial imagery every two years will provide much needed data to be used in the area of weed abatement, capital projects and code enforcement cases. Joining the Consortium has resulted in considerable savings compared to the cost of purchasing the imagery separately.”

“LAR-IAC data, including Pictometry’s oblique imagery, have been an invaluable asset to the GIS program in the City of Pasadena. We’ve used the data on projects related to irrigation reduction and tree canopy analysis, and have even used elevation data to build virtual models of the City,” said Brian Sims, GIS Coordinator for the City of Pasadena. Noting that with the use of Pictometry products the ability to build a library of imagery for comparison purposes will lead to even more uses over time, Sims added, “We are just beginning to scratch the surface of possible applications for Pictometry.”

About the Los Angeles Region Imagery Acquisition Consortium (LAR-IACII)
The LAR-IAC was formed by the Chief Information Office and the Department of Regional Planning of the County of Los Angeles to get public entities within the 4,000 square mile county together to acquire highly accurate digital imagery products. As part of an ongoing effort for bi-annual updates of these products, LAR-IACII is presently underway. For more information about LAR-IAC, visit the project web site at http://planning.lacounty.gov/lariac/  

About Sanborn
With a rich tradition of mapping dating back to 1866, Sanborn provides comprehensive end-to-end geospatial solutions. Sanborn offers products and services that satisfy diverse and evolving customer needs for GIS software systems, application development, systems integration and spatial analysis and modeling. Leveraging precision remote sensing techniques, Sanborn also supports a wide range of applications and users. Sanborn’s solutions are founded on a strong legacy of innovative geospatial data collection and processing capabilities. For more information on Sanborn, visit www.sanborn.com.

About Pictometry
Pictometry International Corp. is a leading provider of geo-referenced, aerial image libraries and related software. Pictometry has captured over 50 million digital aerial images in over 600 counties in the United States covering over 70 percent of the United States population. Using its proprietary imaging process, Pictometry® captures geo-referenced, high-resolution oblique (at an angle, producing a 3-D like view) and orthogonal (straight down) Intelligent Images®, within which structures and land features can be measured. Pictometry customizes and markets these technologies for government and commercial applications, offering non-traditional software solutions to aerial imaging needs. Pictometry’s imagery and software enables users to “See Everywhere, Measure Anything, Plan Everything”® using a patented digital information system. Pictometry has its headquarters in Rochester, NY and an office in Europe. Pictometry is a second order visualization tool that does not produce authoritative or definitive information (surveying) from its digital, aerial images. For more information on Pictometry, visit www.pictometry.com  

Contact:

Tami Bacon,
Pictometry Public Relations Manager
(585) 487-1488
e-mail at Email Contact