San Diego, CA — May 04, 2010 — From the ASPRS 2010 conference in San Diego this week, Vexcel Imaging GmbH, a Microsoft® company, announced that it received notice from the United States Geological Survey (USGS) that the UltraCamXp and UltraCamXp Wide Angle (WA) successfully completed the USGS Sensor Type Certification Process. USGS certifies that the UltraCamXp and UltraCamXp WA are “capable of providing quality, consistent image data to support civil government programs at the performance level specified in the USGS sensor type certification report.”

These cameras are following in the UltraCam tradition of quality. The UltraCamD was certified by USGS in December 2006, and the UltraCamX in July 2008. See http://calval.cr.usgs.gov/.

The UltraCamXp was released in 2008 with an enlarged footprint and enhanced storage capabilities compared to its predecessors, the UltraCamD and UltraCamX. The UltraCamXp Wide Angle was introduced in 2009. By featuring a wide-angle lens with a shorter focal length, the UltraCamXp WA allows lower-flying airplanes to collect data at the same ground sample distance (GSD) as higher-flying planes carrying the UltraCamXp, while delivering the same image quality.

The UltraCamXp and the UltraCamXp WA have the same format with an enlarged footprint of 196 megapixels and a pixel size of 6 micrometers. Both cameras are fully compatible with the storage (DXp) and computing (CXp) systems of the UltraCamX and are fully supported by Vexcel’s UltraMap 2.0 workflow software system.

“We are very pleased to be able to share this information with the mapping community at the ASPRS Annual Meeting,” said Alexander Wiechert, Business Director of Microsoft and Managing Director for Vexcel Imaging GmbH. “This certification is important for our customers.”

About Vexcel Imaging, GmbH

Acquired by Microsoft Corporation in May 2006, Vexcel Imaging GmbH brings 20 years of photogrammetry expertise to Microsoft’s Bing Maps business unit and is at the heart of the burgeoning Microsoft Photogrammetry business. The company’s offerings include its series of UltraCam large-and medium-format digital aerial mapping cameras and related software tools such as the UltraMap 2.0 workflow software.