View Full Version : New Aerial Photos



mmonroe
03-06-2010, 12:09 PM
NewsOK (http://www.newsok.com/eye-in-sky-has-oklahoma-property-view-focused-tight/article/3444302?custom_click=masthead_topten)

Remember those fuzzy TV pictures pulled in by rabbit ears.

Now, think of the latest high-def screen.

That’s the now-and-then difference in the quality of aerial photography being shot of Oklahoma City and suburbs.


A plane was in the air this week to get new, high-resolution images after an agreement was struck by the Oklahoma County assessor’s office, nine cities and the U.S. Geological Survey.

How much sharper are the sharpest photos? You wouldn’t quite be able to see the hail dings on your car, but a bashed-in fender would be clearly visible.

Edmond, Norman and Midwest City will have images to that resolution — three inches per pixel. For Edmond, it’s a repeat.

Oklahoma City, Bethany, Choctaw, Moore, Nicoma Park and Yukon opted for a resolution of six inches per pixel. Oklahoma County will photograph the entire county at 12 inches per pixel. Each will determine how to make the images available to the public.

The Oklahoma County assessor’s office worked with the Association of Central Oklahoma Governments for nearly 10 years to get the cities to go together to buy aerial images and save money, County Assessor Leonard Sullivan said.

The $15,000 cost to the county is half the expense of previous aerial projects, he said. The first aerial photos, taken in 2000, cost almost $200,000, he said.

The cities came together after a 2007 bond election gave Oklahoma City the money for news aerial photos, said John Sharp, program coordinator at the Association of Central Oklahoma Governments. Interest in seeing the significant changes downtown helped, he said.

Edmond officials’ satisfaction with the higher resolution also helped sell reluctant officials in other cities, Sharp said.

Because higher-resolution photography provides more information by definition, the images can help local governments explain the physical impact of planning and development actions, said Larry Stein, chief deputy county assessor.

"When you’re talking about zoning issues and can show them photos instead of line drawings, it’s so much better,” he said.

Aerial images are used in economic development efforts both public and private. Sharp pointed out that the new images of the Core-to-Shore area, almost 700 acres south of downtown Oklahoma City declared blighted — therefore open to urban renewal — will be popular.

Read more: NewsOK (http://www.newsok.com/eye-in-sky-has-oklahoma-property-view-focused-tight/article/3444302?custom_click=masthead_topten#ixzz0hQQAMJQt )

OKCisOK4me
03-06-2010, 12:19 PM
The only thing I see this good for is emergency services--unless, of course, they haven't issued the images out to these services in one way or another. From what I get out of the article, these weren't done by Google, so it's not like we (the public) will be able to view these anytime soon and I don't see this company that did they flyovers selling their images to Google.

Can't wait til Google does their thing. If you eventually find the web address associated with these images, please post it on here. Thanks!

shane453
03-06-2010, 12:37 PM
^^ The Oklahoma County aerial photography is available through the county assessor website, it's usually annually updated and better quality than Google.

LakeEffect
03-06-2010, 12:39 PM
The public will be able to access them on the County Assessor's website and the various City websites. The City currently has their 2004 available at the online zoning locator (http://www.okc.gov/planning/zoning/locator_intro.html).

OKCisOK4me
03-06-2010, 12:54 PM
^^ The Oklahoma County aerial photography is available through the county assessor website, it's usually annually updated and better quality than Google.

I've been to the assessors web page. Never seen the aerial shots. But then again, I was doing name and address searches and the only renderings were the front of the houses from the street.

mmonroe
03-06-2010, 01:19 PM
Try using the Mapping/GIS options from the website.

Oklahoma County Assessor Mapping/GIS Disclaimer Notice (http://www.oklahomacounty.org/assessor/GIS_Disclaimer.htm)

You'll have to check the maps on the right hand side, and they are only available if you are zoomed in at a particular level I think it's 1:15,000

LordGerald
03-09-2010, 07:47 AM
The only thing I see this good for is emergency services--unless, of course, they haven't issued the images out to these services in one way or another. From what I get out of the article, these weren't done by Google, so it's not like we (the public) will be able to view these anytime soon and I don't see this company that did they flyovers selling their images to Google.

Can't wait til Google does their thing. If you eventually find the web address associated with these images, please post it on here. Thanks!

Aeriel photos are good for more than emergency services. They help planners with land-use planning, they can showcase areas prone to flooding, they can also help locate areas in the aquifer that might be conducive to drilling. They can even uncover old sidewalks and utility and sewer lines that may have been long forgotten. City planners will use these maps/aeriels wisely and this is a great investment.

PLANSIT
03-09-2010, 08:38 AM
The only thing I see this good for is emergency services--unless, of course, they haven't issued the images out to these services in one way or another. From what I get out of the article, these weren't done by Google, so it's not like we (the public) will be able to view these anytime soon and I don't see this company that did they flyovers selling their images to Google.

Can't wait til Google does their thing. If you eventually find the web address associated with these images, please post it on here. Thanks!

Google doesn't take aerial photos, they buy them from companies/cities that do. And because the resolution is pretty high, there is a good chance someone (bing/google) will pick them up.

The aerials are just now being flown, so they won't be available until this summer (~May).

The planimetric data will probably be done sometime next winter.

Pete
03-09-2010, 08:50 AM
I had been wondering why the County site had not posted new aerials since 2007.

That's still the case... The newest ones are not yet available on their site.

Until recently, they were being updated annually.

OKCisOK4me
03-09-2010, 09:02 AM
Google doesn't take aerial photos, they buy them from companies/cities that do. And because the resolution is pretty high, there is a good chance someone (bing/google) will pick them up.

The aerials are just now being flown, so they won't be available until this summer (~May).

The planimetric data will probably be done sometime next winter.

You're correct. They have their own satellite. That's money right there!

gmwise
03-09-2010, 09:10 AM
It would be great if the buried utilities lines can also be seen at the County Assessor's(or somewhere) site