Leica Geosystems Geospatial Imaging is pleased to announce ERDAS IMAGINE V9.0. The latest version offers enhanced geospatial image processing for an enterprise environment, leveraging the capabilities of spatially-aware databases such as ESRI ArcSDE and Oracle Spatial 10g. Additionally, ERDAS IMAGINE V9.0 introduces IMAGINE AutoSync, which enables rapid georeferencing of images using automatically-generated tie points from an existing reference image.

"The enhanced capabilities in ERDAS IMAGINE V9.0 will allow users to more easily employ our intuitive image processing tools in the enterprise environment, providing organizations with the ability to collaboratively work with their spatial data. As a result, users will obtain spatial intelligence, leading to better decision making," commented Bob Morris, President of Leica Geosystems Geospatial Imaging.

Empowering Enterprises with Geospatial Intelligence

ERDAS IMAGINE V9.0 allows organizations to maximize their investments in imagery and feature geospatial information by increasing accessibility to spatial data, and by enabling image exploitation by both local and remote end users via an Internet connection. Key components facilitate the ability to load, read and edit both raster and vector data within the enterprise environment.

Updated enterprise capabilities in the new release include Geodatabase support, ArcSDE Raster Exporter and ArcSDE Raster and Vector dll, based on ESRI ArcObjects V9.1. The release also incorporates new capabilities based on Oracle Spatial 10g, including access for GeoRaster and Vector Feature geometries, and the spatial selector tool for GeoRaster which enables fast selection of appropriate raster datasets.

IMAGINE AutoSync

IMAGINE AutoSync is an add-on module for ERDAS IMAGINE, allowing users to synchronize potentially dissimilar image types by generating tie points between them, creating a geometric model that links the images together. The tool facilitates georeferencing data sets to enhance alignment or perform quick georeferencing of raw imagery.

Additional benefits in ERDAS IMAGINE V9.0 include:

• Better image quality when zooming out, produced by improved pyramid layer algorithms
• Improved user control over the Projection system used in the Viewer
• Enhanced control for trading spectral quality for spatial detail (or vice versa) through additional Pan Sharpening techniques
• Ability to edit Brightness/Contrast for Areas of Interest for 16-bit imagery, such as IKONOS and QuickBird