Data& GIS - Pictometry

The Massachusetts Highway Department (MassHighway) has entered into a two year agreement with Pictometry International Corp. of Rochester, NY to license use of Pictometry's revolutionary digital imaging process and interpretive software system for use by MassHighway, other state agencies and all Massachusetts municipalities. As a result, Pictometry's EFS software and the imagery taken for MassHighway are available to local governments at no charge. Municipalities may license their own use of this new technology through their Massachusetts regional planning agencies (RPAs), which have been designated by MassHighway as exclusive authorized distributors. MAPC is a regional distributor of the Pictometry technology to our 101 member communities.

The new technology allows users to view digital aerial color images of a community from either an orthogonal (straight down) or an oblique angle view of up to 40 degrees. Pictometry's EFS software is the "magic" that allows users to rapidly bring to their desktop thumbnails of all images containing a location they pinpoint by simply clicking on a map or an image. A mouse click on a singled-out thumbnail expands it to full-size in the workspace, where an abundance of tools can be used to navigate, measure, interpret and annotate the image. Each pixel in the pictometry images is geocoded with longitude, latitude and elevation identifiers using a standard coding protocol. This unique feature enables the EFS software to quickly match the geocoding imbedded in USGS and GIS files to the Pictometry imagery to instantly deliver thumbnails of the oblique images containing that same point in space. Because the software is WindowsTM-based, several images can be displayed simultaneously in multiple windows within the workspace. This is very useful for viewing a location or object from several angles at one time.

Pictometry technology enables users to display streets, bridges, buildings, land areas, real property parcels, and ecological and geographic features, viewable from several directions with extreme zooming capability down to a single pixel. The EFS software allows users to easily locate and accurately measure any feature, horizontal or vertical, and determine its directional azimuth, global location and altitude from mean sea level. Distance, length, height and area can be portrayed in many different units of measure from inches to miles to acres, and in U.S. or metric units; all selectable by the user. Local government professionals in Virginia, Florida and elsewhere have put this new tool to productive use in many ways. Assessors, planners, engineers, conservationists, public safety organizations, regulatory boards and policy-makers are using Pictometry to introduce, explore, analyze, investigate, compare, envision and portray current features, changes and possibilities within their communities. Assessors and code enforcement officials are employing Pictometry technology to ensure fairness in tax burden distribution by detecting un-permitted property improvements and code violations, which contribute to local government revenues and enforcement efficiency. Printed Pictometry images have made astounding impacts in court in defense of values and exemption denial cases.

Naturally, under the current awareness of terrorism, Pictometry imagery is being used for police and fire planning and on-scene incident command. Public safety and EMS helicopter crews are benefiting when engaged in night and bad weather extrications from dispatchers relaying critical site feature information while viewing daytime imagery of a landing zone.

Land use planners and environmentalists are gaining insight through a bird's eye view of areas in the path of development that aids in their evaluation of suitability, impact and mitigation strategies.

MassHighway's procurement of Pictometry imagery captured the features and the level of detail most important to MassHighway. The entire state way digitally photographed at a relative altitude of 2,500 feet, producing 2-way opposing view oblique images from the east and west or the north and south, depending on the flight direction of the aircraft. The environs of the state's major divided highways were recorded in lower altitude 2-way images. Nearly the entire area within route 128 from Braintree to Peabody was done at low altitude.