Graz, Austria, July 31, 2014”GEOCART GmbH has contracted with Microsoft's UltraCam business unit and subsidiary to purchase an UltraCam Falcon, one of the well-known third-generation UltraCam digital aerial camera systems being adopted by many companies worldwide.
The UltraCam Falcon offers a versatile platform for aerial mapping projects. The system is available with two different focal lengths“a standard 100mm focal length or a wide angle 70mm focal length“and two different footprint sizes (14,430 pixels across or 17,310 pixels across the flight strip).
GEOCART selected the 100mm lens and the 14,430 pixel footprint configuration, which offers the flexibility to utilize the Falcon in conjunction with its UltraCam Eagle, also equipped with a 100mm lens, for large projects, or to fly the Falcon alone at low level altitudes to obtain high resolution images. The Falcon's frame rate of up to one second captures images up to 2cm ground resolution.
The UltraCam Falcon complements our large-format UltraCam Eagle camera, said Dr. Thore Kiski, owner of GEOCART. Together the Falcon and Eagle give us the opportunity to cover a wide range of applications requiring everything from high image resolution at low flying altitude to quick coverage of huge areas at high altitude with a very large footprint.
GEOCART began operating UltraCam systems in 2007 with its purchase of an UltraCamX. Since that time, it has purchased and flown the UltraCam Eagle with 80mm, 100mm and 210mm lenses, as well as completed projects with the UltraCam Osprey. We look forward to enhancing our operations with the capabilities of the Falcon, said Kiski.
GEOCART continues to be receptive to adopting the latest UltraCam technology to achieve increased efficiency and better quality products and services, said Alexander Wiechert, Microsoft Business Director. The UltraCam Falcon is a highly useful addition to GEOCART's data acquisition resources.
About the UltraCam Falcon
The UltraCam Falcon features include:
- PAN, color and NIR data captured in one pass
- Ground Sample Distance (GSD) up to 2cm
- Choice between two image footprint sizes (14,430 * 9,420 pixels or 17,310 * 11,310 pixels across the flight strip)
- Choice between two lens focal lengths (the standard 100mm Pan or wide angle 70mm Pan)
- Integrated unit that contains all components in the sensor head
- Solid-state image storage system that holds approximately 7,500 images (with 14,430 pixel footprint) and 5,200 images (with 17,310 pixel footprint)
- Compatible with UltraNav flight management and direct georeferencing system from Applanix
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 GEOCART GmbH
Since its origin in 1966, GEOCART GmbH has built a reputation as a leading German supplier of photogrammetric products and services with highly experienced employees utilizing the most modern technology available in the fields of surveying, photogrammetry and remote sensing. GEOCART conducts aerial photo flights using a Cessna 402 and turbine engine Piper Cheyenne IIXL, specially equipped with UltraCamX, UltraCam Eagle, and UltraCam Falcon digital camera systems. The firm mainly operates in Europe with additional international focus in areas such as Iraq. For more information about the company, go to www.geocart.de or contact Dr. Thore Kiski at (+49) 02366/1095-0 or [email protected].
