Intermap Technologies
| Intermap Technologies corporate logo | |
| Company type | Public |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1996 |
| Headquarters | Englewood, CO USA |
Key people | Brian L. Bullock, President & CEO[1] |
Number of employees | 850+ |
| Website | www.intermap.com |
Intermap Technologies™ (TSX: IMP.TO, AIM: IMAP.L), a publicly traded company headquartered in Englewood, Colorado[2], United States, is a commercial digital mapping company that creates 3D models of the earth’s surface.
The company is remapping entire countries and building national databases, called NEXTMap® consisting of elevation data, or digital topography maps, that include 3D geometric images. Intermap employs more than 850 people worldwide, with additional offices in the US, Canada, Europe and Asia.
History
Intermap was formed on January 31, 1996, and commenced active business operations on September 1, 1996. On November 11, 1996, the company acquired all of the assets comprising the image mapping services division of Intera Information Technologies Corporation (IITC). Many of the senior members of Intermap’s original management team were employees of IITC. Intermap originally focused on providing 3D digital elevation maps for customers under specific contract arrangements. Typically, these projects specified areas to be mapped and were generally procured by governmental mapping and/or defense agencies.
IFSAR Products
Intermap collects elevation data aerially, using aircraft equipped with Interferometric synthetic aperture radar (IFSAR) technology. Intermap’s IFSAR digital elevation model (DEM) and image products include:
- Digital surface models (DSMs). A topographic model of the earth’s surface that includes buildings, vegetation, roads, and natural terrain features. The key benefit of the DSM is that it provides a geometrically correct base map.
- Digital terrain models (DTMs). A "bare earth" topographic model that has had vegetation, buildings, and other cultural features digitally removed, enabling users to infer terrain characteristics possibly hidden in the DSM.
- Orthorectified radar images (ORIs), a grayscale image of the earth’s surface that is has been corrected to remove geometric distortions, accentuating topographic features far more than is possible with aerial photography.
- Color orthorectified radar images (CORIs), created by fusing the ORI with multi-spectral imagery. The result is color-balanced to further accentuate topographic features by creating a seamless and natural-color image.
The data, once processed, is included in nationwide digital elevation datasets called NEXTMap.
NEXTMap®
In 2002, Intermap commenced its NEXTMap program, which is focused on collecting and processing 3D digital elevation datasets for entire countries, including the United States[3] (due for completion in 2009), countries in Western Europe[4] (completed in July 2008) and Southeast Asia. In contrast to historic mapping business models in which customers pay for the completion of specific mapping projects, Intermap is self-financing the NEXTMap program. The company then sells the use of its data through licensing agreements.
AccuTerra®
In 2008 Intermap launched AccuTerra GPS Maps which combines Intermap's NextMap data with Intermap's detailed recreation based data to creat highly accurate maps to be used on outdoor/recreation GPS devices. Currently Intermap has contracts to provide their high-resolution maps and data to the Magellan Navigation, Bushnell, Lowrance Electronics, and Pronounced GPS product lines, as well as the Apple iPhone. The AccuTerra iPhone App won "Best iPhone OS 3.0 Beta App" at Apple's Design Awards 2009. The Apple Design Awards recognize technical excellence and outstanding achievement in iPhone OS and Mac OS X development.
Customers
The company has attained digital mapping contracts with companies across various industries[5] and sectors, including geographic information systems (GIS), engineering, insurance risk assessment, oil and gas, environment, communications, transportation, and 3D visualization markets. Microsoft[6] most recently announced a partnership with Intermap to create an enhanced version of Virtual Earth 3D for Great Britain.
References
- ^ Business News Networks
- ^ Toronto Stock Exchange
- ^ "Intermap to Map Continental USA to 1-Meter Accuracy, Including Elevation; Launch of ‘NEXTMap USA’ Now" Underway. Airphoto USA. October 29, 2003.
- ^ Intermap Technologies Completes NEXTMap Europe GeoConnexion International. July 25, 2008
- ^ Where Next. GeoConnexion. February/March 2007.
- ^ Microsoft and Intermap Team Up. Web Pro News.