Digital Aerial Solutions (DAS) expands imaging capabilities with 3rd Leica ADS digital sensor
Photogrammetry expert Digital Aerial Solutions LLC (DAS) said Monday it purchased a third airborne digital sensor from Leica Geosystems to fulfill geospatial application commitments made to federal agencies.
Tampa, Fla.-based DAS, which provides high-resolution digital aerial imagery for photogrammetric mapping, GIS, engineering and land use applications, said it has contracts with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Agriculture Imagery Program (NAIP) and the U.S. Geological Survey’s (USGS) Geospatial Product and Service Contracts programs.
Calling itself a “Leica shop,” DAS said it purchased a Leica ADS80 large-format digital imaging sensor to complement its Leica ALS60 airborne laser scanner, used to support topographic, flood plane mapping, storm water and natural resource management applications, and two Leica ADS40s large-format digital cameras, which have been upgraded to the SH51 and SH52 sensor head configurations.
DAS also owns and operates three twin-engine pressurized Cessna aircraft that will be deployed simultaneously to support NAIP and other large-area mapping projects.
In addition to increasing DAS’s overall imagery collection capacity, the Leica ADS80 will enable the firm to expand into other end user markets requiring higher resolution imagery.
With delivery of the new ADS80 sensor scheduled for this month, DAS said it will seek new business from end users in the traditional photogrammetric mapping and remote sensing markets that need higher-resolution data.
With U.S. headquarters in Norcross, Ga., Leica Geosystems, the world‘s leading manufacturer of 3D laser scanners including digital airborne and lidar sensors for the geospatial industry, is headquartered in Heerbrugg, Switzerland, and is part of Sweden’s Hexagon Group.
Compared to its predecessors in the Leica ADS sensor series, the Leica ADS80 has less weight, is equipped with an improved control unit with a greater data throughput performance, and has a removable solid-state memory allowing for acquisition of higher spatial resolution data at faster aircraft ground speeds.
