John Copple, CEO of Sanborn, a Colorado Springs-based geographic information system (GIS) and photogrammetry services provider, announced that the company has been selected by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to demonstrate high spatial resolution landcover and landcover change products derived from aerial digital and satellite imagery acquisition in accordance with NOAA's Coastal Change Analysis Program (C-CAP), a current government-funded program.

The NOAA Coastal Services Center (Center) has contracted Sanborn for their operational capabilities to use remote sensing technologies, in the coastal zone, to assess high spatial resolution land cover products for change detection analysis and updates, as well as to provide solutions that may be implemented on a national level to develop the "next-generation" of C-CAP. Led by Executive Vice President Jay Tilley, the Sanborn team will produce deliverables for a portion of the panhandle of Florida including "prototype" change detection products and updates to current C-CAP products, 0.5-meter and 10-meter landcover derived from Sanborn's UltraCam multispectral digital camera, and SPOT 5 10-meter satellite imagery.

Sanborn will provide a detailed classification system to include coastal-specific land cover or land use categories, such as wetlands and impervious surfaces. NOAA will use the data Sanborn provides to assess new strategies and products, from which high-resolution imagery may be used to track various coastal trends such as wetland changes. The data will also assist coastal resource managers, helping them with water resource management and inventory, the protection of fragile environments, and their overall decision-making processes.

Source: Sanborn, Nov. 9, 2004