AAM has upgraded the first of its fleet of VisionMap A3 digital mapping cameras to the new A3 Edge.

VisionMap’s A3 Edge collects imagery quickly, thanks to its extremely large footprint (78,900 x 9,600 pixels), coupled with a wide Field of View, which substantially increases the width of flight lines. The new generation CCD arrays capture imagery at higher resolutions for a given altitude, which allows AAM to capture projects in a fraction of the time compared to previous systems.

AAM has been using the A3 Digital Mapping System for several years to provide their customers with cost-effective and quality geospatial products. After upgrading to the A3 Edge, AAM flew 10,000 km2 with the new system. The area had been previously captured using an A3 allowing direct comparison of the systems. AAM was impressed by the improvements.

Chief Operating Officer Mark Freeburn stated, “We have been very pleased with the results to date.  A3 Edge worked flawlessly, capturing many thousands of km2 a day. The data processing time has been significantly reduced allowing the rapid production of seamless mosaics. The image clarity is crisp, and the tone and colour consistency over large areas is impressive.”

Coupled with the fully-automatic A3 LightSpeed Processing System, the Edge provides AAM with mapping products at sub-pixel accuracy, much faster than other commercial systems.

“Projects well over 10,000km2 in size are common. Business pressures faced by our clients require the data be available to project teams as quickly as possible.  The performance characteristics of the A3 Edge will benefit our clients that require the rapid delivery of high quality mapping products.” Freeburn added.