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Imaging and GIS
Thousands of GIS professionals use geographic imagery daily for feature extraction, spatial analysis, modeling, two-dimensional and three-dimensional stereo viewing, and map creation and presentation to solve global resource management and infrastructure problems. A multipurpose geographic imaging suite, such as ERDAS IMAGINE, combines a variety of processes for synthesizing, visualizing, analyzing and extracting information from imagery, yielding results that are visible, useful, and accurate. In future issues of ArcNews, ERDAS plans to use this page, dedicated to imagery, to highlight the way imagery and GIS can team to solve the increasingly complex geospatial problems facing the world today. In keeping with the spirit of ArcNews, ERDAS will present applications and users who found more information and a greater degree of accuracy in such a partnership. For more information, contact ERDAS (toll free tel.: 1-877-GO ERDAS [1-877-463-7327]). Visit ERDAS on the Web at www.erdas.com. |
More than 90 percent of GIS budgets go toward data acquisition and maintenance, according to some estimates. Geographic imagery provides a cost-effective and time-saving solution for communicating large amounts of accurate and up-to-date information in a GIS. Because raw imagery by itself does not provide accurate features based on ground positions, geographic imaging makes the information accessible and useful. According to Roger Adams, GIS programmer for the City of Ventura, California, "The simplest use of imagery is as a backdrop. Soon it becomes a valuable asset that exceeds the cost of acquisition."