Vexcel Corporation, a global market leader in photogrammetric products and services, announced a contract with Aerodata International Surveys to deliver an UltraCam-D large format aerial camera. The new 90 mega-pixel aerial camera outperforms conventional film cameras, producing 4 color channels in red/green/blue/near-infrared at an image collection rate of less than a second at 12 bits per channel. The camera-manufactured in Austria by Vexcel GmbH, a wholly owned subsidiary of Vexcel-was introduced in May 2003 at the annual ASPRS convention in Alaska and is expected to produce production imagery by the end of this year.

"Aerodata has long studied the various technology trends as reflected in the growing offering of digital aerial cameras," observed Willem Philipse, managing partner of AeroData. "We are betting on the UltraCam-D as the right product at the right time and the right price".

The camera will be embedded into Aerodata's existing flight support system which consists of two components by German company IGI GmbH: the CCNS-4 flight management system and the AeroControl direct geopositioning system. The digital images will then be fed directly into an initially unmodified Boeing-Softplotter workflow.

"The UltraCam-D acquisition, and the benefits of a fully digital workflow, solidifies AeroData's role as a technology pioneer and a leading provider of aerial photogrammetry data and products," added Philipse.

Source: Vexcel Corporation, Oct. 20, 2003