PCI Geomatics - Latest News

White Paper: Semi-Automated Historical Airphoto Processing (HAP)
Geometric Correction of historical imagery is a complicated, time consuming and expensive operation. Due to a lack of development related to streamlining these operations, a significant amount of manual processing time must be invested into current projects. A system capable of achieving reliable accuracy that considerably reduces project turnaround time is required to help manage processing costs and improve the operating capacity.

White Paper: Automatic DEM Generation using GeoEye-1 Stereo Data In Mining Applications
This article describes how high resolution satellite data can be used to extract accurate digital elevation model (DEM) for a mining application in the Amazon region. The resulting vertical accuracy can be within RMS error of 1.5m when using a minimum number of ground control points.

Read more...

RICHMOND HILL, Ontario, Canada—March 14, 2013: PCI Geomatics, a world-leading developer of remote sensing and photogrammetric software and systems, announced today that it now supports SPOT-6 imagery within its software suite.

SPOT-6, a new satellite built and operated by Astrium was launched on September 9^th, 2012 from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in India. SPOT-6 is an optical imaging satellite capable of imaging the Earth with a resolution of 1.5 m Panchromatic and 6 m Multispectral (Blue, Green, Red, Near-IR).

“We have worked closely with Astrium and the European Commissions’ Joint Research Centre (JRC) to validate our software’s support for SPOT-6 imagery”, said Dr. Philip Cheng, Senior Scientist at PCI Geomatics. “PCI’s customers rely on us to provide support when new sensors are launched. Adding support for SPOT-6 was relatively straightforward as the data format is very similar to other PCI supported sensors that have been recently launched by Astrium, such as the Pleiades Constellation”.

The support for SPOT-6 will be available in the Geomatica 2013 SP2 product release. PCI’s support for SPOT-6 will include RPC model creation (allowing for very accurate corrections using the satellite orbital ephemeris data) as well as very rapid and high quality Pansharpening capability.

For more information on PCI’s support for SPOT-6 and processing capabilities that are available within Geomatica 2013, visit: http://www.pcigeomatics.com/products/geomatica-2013.

About PCI Geomatics

PCI Geomatics is a world-leading developer of software and systems for remote sensing, imagery processing, and photogrammetry. With more than 30 years of experience in the geospatial industry, PCI is recognized globally for its excellence in providing software for accurately and rapidly processing both satellite and aerial imagery. PCI has installed more than 30 thousand licenses, in over 150 countries worldwide. Find out more about PCI Geomatics at www.pcigeomatics.com.

Press Contact

Kevin R. Jones
Director, Marketing and Communications
T: 819-770-0022 x 214
E: jones@pcigeomatics.com
Web: www.pcigeomatics.com

Twitter: @pcigeomatics

RICHMOND HILL, Ontario, Canada—March 21, 2013: PCI Geomatics, a world-leading developer of remote sensing and photogrammetric software and systems, announced today that it has introduced the Historical Airphoto Processing Workflow, also known as HAP.

The HAP workflow was designed to work with historical airphotos, providing a semi-automated means to align, orthorectify, and mosaic from hundreds to thousands of digitally scanned airphotos. The system can greatly reduce manual labor, double throughput, and achieve high accuracy.

PCI is introducing the HAP workflow as part of its new Production Workflows, which provide out-of-the-box automation designed for specific applications. The HAP workflow takes this one step further by providing customers with a pre-built semi-automated solution, training, and on-site customization, as may be required. This way, customers are up and running quickly with a powerful solution.

“We developed the HAP workflow in response to a need for a solution to correct large volumes of historical airphotos – some libraries have holdings in excess of several millions of airphotos,” said David Piekny, Product Manager at PCI Geomatics. “The HAP workflow provides organizations throughout the world a new method to preserve, and put into operational use, their valuable historical airphotos. By correcting the imagery, and making it available in modern GIS and Image Processing software environments, users can benefit from multi-year image analysis, tracking changes that have occurred across the landscape.”

The HAP workflow leverages multi-pass processing and automated ground control and tie point collection, producing an accurate math model that can be used to produce individual orthos or seamless ortho-mosaics from hundreds or thousands of airphotos; even without camera calibration files. The system is built with PCI’s proven Geomatica technology and can be scaled to meet all requirements for historical airphoto correction.

For more information on the Historical Airphoto Processing (HAP) Workflow, visit:

http://www.pcigeomatics.com/products/historical-airphoto

About PCI Geomatics

Press Contact

Kevin R. Jones
Director, Marketing and Communications
T: 819-770-0022 x 214
E: jones@pcigeomatics.com
Web: www.pcigeomatics.com

Twitter: @pcigeomatics

RICHMOND HILL, Ontario, Canada—March 26, 2013: PCI Geomatics, a world-leading developer of remote sensing and photogrammetric software and systems, announced today the release of its GeoImaging Accelerator (GXL) 2013 - the latest version of the company’s proven, high-performance, and scalable image processing solution.

“With this year’s release, we have focused on key areas that will improve the overall workflow and quality of output imagery,” said David Piekny, Product Manager at PCI Geomatics. “GXL 2013 provides new tools that allow users to generate Digital Surface Models from large data sets of hundreds to thousands of stereo pairs, and apply new, innovative 2.5D hybrid editing techniques – users can make changes to their elevation models and inspect the resulting quality of orthos at full resolution, in real time. This approach will greatly reduce the manual adjustments and editing, which are typically required in post-production steps, since errors can be spotted instantly and addressed.”

Other key development areas include a redesigned true-ortho capability, as well as improved automated cutline generation methods that model the presence of features in overlapping imagery (such as buildings, trees, vehicles, etc.) to avoid them, resulting in cleaner, nicer-looking ortho-mosaics.

“We believe ortho-mosaicked products generated by GXL 2013 will significantly reduce overall production timelines and provide substantial cost savings over more traditional methods,” said Brad Schmidt, VP, Sales and Marketing at PCI Geomatics. “GXL 2013 continues our legacy of providing cutting-edge geoimaging technology for both the satellite and aerial image processing markets.”

About GeoImaging Accelerator (GXL)
GXL technology combines high-performance computing with PCI Geomatics expertise to provide significant improvements in automation, speed and efficiency. By optimizing and distributing automated workflows, traditional image-processing is elevated to industrial-strength production.

For more information about the GXL software solution, visit:
www.pcigeomatics.com/gxl

About PCI Geomatics
PCI Geomatics is a world-leading developer of software and systems for remote sensing, imagery processing, and photogrammetry. With more than 30 years of experience in the geospatial industry, PCI is recognized globally for its excellence in providing software for accurately and rapidly processing both satellite and aerial imagery. PCI has installed more than 30 thousand licenses, in over 150 countries worldwide. Find out more about PCI Geomatics at www.pcigeomatics.com.

Press Contact
Kevin R. Jones
Director, Marketing and Communications
T: 819-770-0022 x 214
E: jones@pcigeomatics.com
Web: www.pcigeomatics.com
Twitter: @pcigeomatics

Highlights in GXL 2013
GXL-Satellite 2013 has been designed to expand the workflows available in the high-speed, automated environment, and to improve the overall system experience and usefulness.
The automated, expandable GXL-S system offers twice the cost performance for processing your imagery. Plus, the system can be customized to your needs and supported by our knowledgeable professionals.
Platform Support
GXL 2013 will continue to support both Windows and Linux platforms. Installations can be provided for the following 64-Bit Operating Systems:

64-bit Microsoft Windows
Red Hat Linux
Ubuntu Linux
SUSE Linux

New Workflows
For GXL 2013 there have been several additions to the available workflows. These include:

NEW DSM Extraction and DTM filtering, with automated processing and GXL web-interface for job submission, including algorithms for:

Epipolar rotation
DSM extraction from stereo imagery
Geocoding
DSM-to-DTM filtering

NEW 2.5D ‘Hybrid’ DEM Editing. For use with the DSM Extraction and DTM Filtering job, this manual QA tool improves your editing workflow with the following features:

Sun-shaded relief, colour display to better visualize elevation features
Switch back and forth between elevation model and ortho-preview on the fly
Simple DEM editing using polygons with various filters and blend widths
Immediate regeneration of the ortho preview layer
Fast calculation and display of full-resolution ortho output of preview area
Flicker between left and right images to check for relief displacement

NEW Industry-leading atmospheric correction tools, with automated processing and GXL web-interface for job submission, including algorithms for:

Haze detection and removal
Cloud detection and masking

System Improvements
Interface Improvements

User administration and job filtering in the GXL web-interface
Language support for internationalization
New features for manual QA of GCPs, Tie Points and model calculation, including:

Handle 1000’s of images at once
View a project “Snapshot”
Immediate recalculation of accuracies after each edit
Graphical point selection / deletion
Overlap identification
Highlight potential collection points / images
Improved processing speed at all steps

Workflow Improvements

Faster model calculation / bundle adjustment, including improvements to:

Automatic Ground Control Point Collection (AUTOGCP2)
Automatic Tie Point Collection (AUTOTIE2)
Tie Point Refinement (TPREFN2)
Automatic Chip Matching (AUTOCHIP2)
OpenMP enabled
FFT Phase Matching algorithm available and found to be more robust than standard cross-correlation method

Improved colour and vibrancy in output mosaics, including:

NEW Localized Adaptive Enhancement (LAE) that normalizes 16-bit imagery to maintain even contrast and brightness throughout an image. This reduces over- and under-exposure, providing maximum detail at any scale.

NEW Minimum-squared difference method for cutlines

Improves automated cutline selection, reducing manual editing time

Local cutline avoidance masks now included as a mosaic option

Supports atmospheric correction workflow

Better e-mail notification scripts
Simpler installation procedure
More detailed documentation

Data Interchange
GXL 2013 includes improved data support, including the following new sensors and formats:

Pleiades
ZY3
CBERS02C
UAVSAR
ESRI Geodatabase – vector writing support
ENVI File Support
Panorama (.SXF)
NGA High Resolution DEM (Read only)

RICHMOND HILL, Ontario, Canada—April 19, 2013: PCI Geomatics, a world-leading developer of remote sensing and photogrammetric software and systems, announced today that it has appointed Mr. Yubin Xin to the position of Executive Director, Greater China Region.

“PCI Geomatics has responded to a market pull in China over the past several years, where earth observation technology is rapidly developing and expanding,” said Terry Moloney, President and CEO of PCI Geomatics. “Mr. Xin has been with PCI Geomatics for over 17 years and is a key part of PCI’s success in China. We are pleased to appoint Mr. Xin to this Executive position.”

PCI Geomatics first opened a local office in Beijing in 2008, with Mr. Xin leading its establishment and expansion. Today, PCI China staff work closely with PCI Geomatics’ exclusive distributor, Beijing Space Eye Inc. (BSEI), to provide support to customers in China on a daily basis.

“I am honored to be receiving this appointment,” said Mr. Xin. “PCI Geomatics has leading edge technology and together with BSEI, we are pleased to offer support to existing and potential customers across China. Our highly skilled technical team works closely with prospective customers to understand their varied image processing requirements. PCI Geomatics’ technology can be deployed to efficiently process projects of any size and we can propose suitable solutions that range from desktop to cloud-based systems.

Mr. Yubin Xin has an extensive background in the Remote Sensing industry, and holds multiple degrees from China and Canada in the fields of Surveying and Computer Science. Representing PCI China, Mr. Xin will be the host for a PCI/BSEI organized event entitled “Product Launch - PCI / BSEI Technology to Manage China’s Big Data” at the 35^th International Symposium on Remote Sensing of Environment, being held in Beijing, China.

About PCI Geomatics

Press Contact

Kevin R. Jones
Director, Marketing and Communications
T: 819-770-0022 x 214
E: jones@pcigeomatics.com
Web: www.pcigeomatics.com

Twitter: @pcigeomatics

RICHMOND HILL, Ontario, Canada—April 22, 2013: PCI Geomatics, a world-leading developer of remote sensing and photogrammetric software and systems, announced today that it has released key technology in China to help its customers manage increasingly large geospatial projects.

“PCI Geomatics is releasing several new products simultaneously in China in response to a demand for new and innovative tools to meet the increasing need for high volume data management and processing solutions. As recently announced, the State Administration of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense (SATIND) plans to launch 5 to 6 new satellites before the end of 2015, starting with the first in April 2013”, said Terry Moloney, President and CEO at PCI Geomatics. “We are pleased to release GXL 2013, Geomatica Discover, and showcase the latest technology from our Geomatica 2013 software.”

“We have been demonstrating the new capability to customers in China and have received a great deal of interest,” said David Stanley, Chief Technology Officer at PCI Geomatics who was present during the announcement and also gave a keynote address during the 35^th International Symposium on Remote Sensing of Environment (ISRSE), being held in Beijing, China . “Big data represents a key challenge for organizations in China who deal with large volumes of geospatial imagery on a daily basis. In my keynote address, I highlighted how PCI Geomatics is helping organizations handle these big data challenges.” PCI Geomatics, together with its exclusive Chinese Distributor, Beijing Space Eye Inc. (BSEI), is a Gold sponsor of the ISRSE Symposium.

GXL 2013 is the latest version of PCI’s proven, high-performance, and scalable image processing solution. GXL 2013 includes tools that allow users to generate digital surface models from large data sets of hundreds to thousands of stereo pairs, and apply new, innovative 2.5D hybrid editing techniques. This gives users the ability to make changes to their elevation models and inspect the resulting quality of orthos at full resolution, in real time.

Geomatica Discover is new standalone, platform agnostic, browser based application that can crawl and index terabytes of geospatial information quickly, and provides an intuitive, easy to use interface to browse and discover datasets that are stored on local or networked drives. Geomatica Discover addresses a key issue with increasingly large and disorganized data repositories found in organizations, that results in inefficient use of resources, and in many cases data duplication.

PCI’s flagship desktop software, Geomatica 2013, was also announced with the release of its latest service pack. The software includes key innovations such as completely redesigned algorithms to detect clouds and remove haze, extract high quality digital elevation models from large datasets, and improved data correction workflows of large projects. Geomatica 2013 also includes key innovations for SAR image analysis, an area that PCI Geomatics has a proven track record for providing innovations going back to its participation in the first GlobeSAR program, which is celebrating its 20^th anniversary in 2013.

About PCI Geomatics

Find out more about PCI Geomatics at www.pcigeomatics.com.

Press Contact

Kevin R. Jones
Director, Marketing and Communications
T: 819-770-0022 x 214
E: jones@pcigeomatics.com
Web: www.pcigeomatics.com

Twitter: @pcigeomatics

Geomatica Discover is PCI Geomatics' new data-discovery tool that uses a simple, browser-based user interface to streamline the way you work with geospatial data. Easy graphical search capabilities reduce the number of steps required to find the imagery you need — saving time and reducing frustration. Geomatica Discover will ship on or before June 3, 2013, but PCI is offering great savings on this unique software right now with a special offer. Visit www.pcigeomatics.com/discover to learn more

RICHMOND HILL, Ontario, Canada—May 03, 2013: PCI Geomatics, a world-leading developer of remote sensing and photogrammetric software and systems, announced today that it now supports KOMPSAT-3 imagery within its software suite.

KOMPSAT-3, a new satellite built and operated by the Korean Aerospace Research Institute (KARI) was launched on May 12^th, 2012 from the Tanegashima Space Center of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), Japan. KOMPSAT-3 is an optical imaging satellite capable of imaging the Earth with a resolution of 0.70 m Panchromatic and 2.8 m Multispectral (Blue, Green, Red, Near-IR). KOMPSAT-3 includes the Advanced Earth Imaging Sensor System (AEISS), which is a high-resolution imager (Pan and MS). This prime instrument of the mission was developed by KARI.

"We are very pleased with the great effort of PCI Geomatics," said Dr. TaeByeong CHAE, Head of the Satellite information Proliferation Team at KARI. "With this new and improved solution, KOMPSAT-3 images will be more easily accessible and useful to the public and commercial users around the globe," he added.

“We have worked closely with KARI to validate our software’s support for KOMPSAT-3 imagery,” said Dr. Philip Cheng, Senior Scientist at PCI Geomatics. “Our software includes support for the new Single Pass Stereo Mode, which will be capable of extracting high-resolution DEMs. Users of our software will also have the ability to pansharpen KOMPSAT-3 imagery.”

PCI has performed quality control on the imagery to determine the achievable accuracy, and found the correction of the KOMPSAT-3 imagery to be very accurate using the Rational Polynomial Coefficients (RPC) provided. The support for KOMPSAT-3 will be available in a future service pack for Geomatica 2013 and can be deployed now in PCI’s enterprise-level production systems.

PCI’s support for KOMPSAT-3 will include RPC model creation and the Toutin Model (allowing for very accurate corrections using the satellite orbital ephemeris data) as well as rapid and high-quality pansharpening capability. KOMPSAT-3 images have been provided by Satrec Initiative, which holds the exclusive right for global distribution right for the KOMPSAT series of satellites.

For more information on PCI’s support for KOMPSAT-3 and processing capabilities that are available within Geomatica 2013, visit: http://www.pcigeomatics.com/products/geomatica-2013

About the Korea AeroSpace Research Institute (KARI)

Established in 1989, KARI is devoted to its role as the leading aerospace research and development institute in Korea. KOMPSAT-2 was successfully launched on July 28th 2006 and recently KOMPSAT-3, the latest satellite of KOMPSAT series, was launched on May 18th 2012. KARI is now developing KOMPSAT-3A and KOMPSAT-5 in an effort to expand Korea’s national space development program. The goal of KARI is to establish a 24-hour satellite observation system surrounding the Korean Peninsula through the KOMPSAT series. Find out more about KARI at http://www.kari.re.kr/eng/

About the Satrec Initiative

Satrec Initiative (SI) is the leading solution provider for Earth observation missions, offering customers worldwide high performance, cost-effective turnkey satellite platforms, electro-optical instruments, ground systems and components. Focusing on the customers’ needs with innovative technologies, SI has delivered optimized high quality solutions to over 20 customers in the Middle East, Asia and Europe. Si has exclusive sales right of Kompsat 2, 3 and 5. Find out more about Satrec Initiative at https://www.satreci.com/eng/

About PCI Geomatics

Press Contact

Kevin R. Jones
Director, Marketing and Communications
T: 819-770-0022 x 214
E: jones@pcigeomatics.com
Web: www.pcigeomatics.com

Twitter: @pcigeomatics

RICHMOND HILL, Ontario, Canada—May 9, 2013: PCI Geomatics, a world-leading developer of remote sensing and photogrammetric software and systems, announced today that is has renewed its Gold-Tier Partnership with Esri for 2013, through the Esri Partner Network (EPN). An Esri partner since April 2009, PCI Geomatics provides leading-edge technology that integrates with Esri’s ArcGIS solution and allows users to automatically process and analyze satellite imagery from many different sensors.

“PCI Geomatics provides excellent tools to correct satellite and aerial imagery that makes it possible for GIS users to analyze and extract accurate information in their daily decision making process,” said Alex Miller, President, Esri Canada.

“Through our partnership with Esri, we have improved access to high-quality imagery at a global scale, by providing a system for Esri to process over 50 million square kilometers of imagery using our GXL technology deployed to the Amazon Cloud,” said Terry Moloney, President and CEO of PCI Geomatics. “In addition to providing image-processing software, PCI Geomatics is actively developing a Cloud strategy to leverage the power of Esri’s ArcGIS Online platform.”

PCI Geomatics software provides powerful and accurate image correction capability that scales from desktop, server, and cloud-based systems to handle projects of any size. PCI’s innovative development and powerful systems led them to work with Esri Inc. on an ambitious project to build a 1m resolution basemap for ArcGIS Online. Through the use of a cloud-based Image processing system, over 50 million square kilometers were orthorectified, pansharpened, and mosaicked using massive amounts of parallel processing on Amazon’s cloud with PCI’s GXL technology.

“Once again, Esri Canada is pleased to sponsor PCI Geomatics as an Esri Gold-Tier Partner,” added Miller. “We continue to work closely with PCI Geomatics to support our Canadian operations, having recently leveraged their technology to fulfill our own project requirements.”

PCI and Esri also announced the grant recipients for the Esri and PCI Natural Resource Imagery Grant Program – 24 organizations have been selected to receive over $100,000 worth of software and imagery to solve key natural resources challenges using the combination of image processing and remote sensing for GIS. The program will play a key role in furthering the understanding of how imagery can be used beyond a reference dataset within the GIS community and beyond. The partnership will also focus on deploying Esri and PCI Geomatics’ software, along with imagery data from MDA and RapidEye, via the Esri and PCI Geomatics Grant Program.

For more information about the Esri and PCI Imagery Grant Program, click here: www.esri.com/imagerygrant

About PCI Geomatics

PCI Geomatics is a world leading developer of software and systems to process aerial and satellite imagery. The company provides integrated Esri imagery workflows, standalone image processing capability, and large volume processing throughput; giving customers the ability to produce high quality ortho-mosaic products and derived information for any project. Find out more at www.pcigeomatics.com

About Esri

Since 1969, Esri has been giving customers around the world the power to think and plan geographically. The market leader in geographic information system (GIS) technology, Esri software is used in more than 300,000 organizations worldwide including each of the 200 largest cities in the United States, most national governments, more than two-thirds of Fortune 500 companies, and more than 7,000 colleges and universities. Esri applications, running on more than one million desktops and thousands of Web and enterprise servers, provide the backbone for the world's mapping and spatial analysis. Esri is the only vendor that provides complete technical solutions for desktop, mobile, server, and Internet platforms. Visit us at esri.com/news.

Press Contact

Kevin R. Jones
Director, Marketing and Communications
T: 819-770-0022 x 214
E: jones@pcigeomatics.com
Web: www.pcigeomatics.com

Twitter: @pcigeomatics

RICHMOND HILL, Ontario, Canada—May 28, 2013: PCI Geomatics, a world-leading developer of remote sensing and photogrammetric software and systems, announced today that they, together with RapidEye and Intermap, will offer free Information Sessions in Santiago, Chile (June 11, 2013), and Lima, Peru (June 13, 2013). The roadshow, which includes the participation of Canadian Geospatial companies, is occurring only a few weeks following Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s visit to Colombia and Peru, where he met with leaders and representatives from the private sector to help increase economic prosperity in the region.

PCI Geomatics, RapidEye, and Intermap will showcase innovations in geospatial technology for imagery, elevation, and software that can be leveraged to make efficient and informed business decisions through the use of these companies’ technology offerings.

Informative sessions will be delivered on the following topics:

PCI Geomatics

Geomatica: PCI’s Desktop Image Processing software – featuring Geomatica 2013’s latest advances, including atmospheric correction, improved support for large projects, and detailed digital elevation model extraction.

Geomatica Discover: Geomatica Discover is a new, standalone software tool for automated data discovery on local or network storage devices.

Production Workflows – highlighting Historical Airphoto Processing Production: Significantly reduce manual labor, double production speeds, and achieve high levels of accuracy with the semi-automated Historical Airphoto Workflow.

GXL Systems: Designed to be scalable and high speed, the GeoImaging Accelerator (GXL) can process terabytes of satellite and aerial imagery per day through the power of distributed, GPU-enabled computing.

Intermap Technologies

Intermap (www.intermap.com) is an industry leader in geospatial solutions on demand. Through its powerful suite of 3DBI applications and proprietary development of contiguous databases that fuse volumes of GIS data into a single source, Intermap is able to provide location-based solutions for customers in diverse markets around the world that solve today’s complex geospatial challenges.

RapidEye

RapidEye (www.rapideye.com) is a leading provider of quality high-resolution satellite imagery. With a constellation of five Earth Observation satellites, RapidEye is able to image up to five million square kilometers of Earth every day, and adds over one billion square kilometers of imagery to its archive every year. Online searching and viewing of its massive collection of imagery is quick and easy with EyeFind (eyefind.rapideye.com), RapidEye's archive discovery tool. With an unprecedented combination of wide area repetitive coverage and five meter pixel size multi-spectral imagery, RapidEye is a natural choice for many industries and government agencies.

If you wish to receive more information, or to attend, please contact the regional Representatives:

Peru
Alonso Portales Fídel
Director Gerente
GEOMATICA SOLUCIONES S.A.C.
aportales@geomaticasoluciones.com

Chile
Walton W. EdwardsConsultor Gerente
GeoSoluciones wedwards@geosoluciones.cl

Or contact us at marketing@pcigeomatics.com.

About PCI Geomatics

Press Contact

Kevin R. Jones
Director, Marketing and Communications
T: 819-770-0022 x 214
E: jones@pcigeomatics.com
Web: www.pcigeomatics.com

Twitter: @pcigeomatics

RICHMOND HILL, Ontario, Canada—May 30, 2013: PCI Geomatics, a world-leading developer of remote sensing and photogrammetric software and systems, announced today that it now supports Landsat-8 imagery within its software suite.

Having officially entered its operation phase, Landsat-8 provides continuity to the Landsat Mission, which has been capturing imagery of the earth since 1972, dating back to the original Landsat satellite, the Earth Resources Technology Satellite (ERTS), or Landsat-1.

With PCI’s software, users will be able to perform essential image correction tasks such as pansharpening and mosaicking—common image processing tasks for Landsat imagery. The United States Geological Survey (USGS) which today took over operations for Landsat-8, will distribute data according to the World Reference System -2 (WRS-2) collection grid, which often results in the need for multiple images to be used to cover areas of interest. Using PCI software, these multiple images can be corrected and merged into a single pansharpened, mosaicked data set.

“The international remote sensing community has been looking forward to this moment for several years, and we are pleased to offer support for Landsat-8,” said Peter Hazlett, Product Manager at PCI Geomatics.

PCI’s support for Landsat-8, which will be available in Geomatica 2013 SP2, includes rapid and high-quality pansharpening capability, as well as automated mosaicking. Landsat-8 imagery will be freely distributed through USGS; an estimated 400 images per day will be collected and made available through online data distribution portals such as Glovisand EarthExplorer.

To view a sample of Landsat-8 imagery processed through PCI’s software, visit:

www.pcigeomatics.com/images/landsat/l8_pansharp.png

About PCI Geomatics

Press Contact

Kevin R. Jones
Director, Marketing and Communications
T: 819-770-0022 x 214
E: jones@pcigeomatics.com
Web: www.pcigeomatics.com

Twitter: @pcigeomatics

RICHMOND HILL, Ontario, Canada—June 6, 2013: PCI Geomatics, a world-leading developer of remote sensing and photogrammetric software and systems, announced today that it now supports ZY-3 imagery within its software suite.

Zi Yuan-3, or ZY-3, is China’s first civilian high resolution stereo mapping earth observation satellite. Launched from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center on January 9, 2012, it was declared operational on April 20, 2012.

ZY-3 is an optical imaging satellite with a Multispectral Camera (MSC), which collects imagery at a resolution of 5.8m with four spectral bands (Blue, Green, Red, Near-IR). ZY-3 also has a Three Line Array (TAC) camera, which collects panchromatic images at 2.1 m (nadir) and 3.5m (forward and backward cameras).

PCI Geomatics conducted quality control on ZY-3 imagery to determine the accuracy, and found that the correction level is very precise using Rational Polynomial Coefficients (RPCs).

“We worked closely with an image collected over Hong Kong on March 8, 2013 to assess the automated methods used to correct ZY-3 images using RPCs,” said Dr. Philip Cheng, Senior Scientist at PCI Geomatics. “Our software includes support for pansharpening, and high resolution digital elevation model extraction using imagery from the single pass stereo mode.”

A sample image of Hong Kong (processed and pansharpend using PCI Geomatics software) is available here: www.pcigeomatics.com/images/ZY-3/HongKong.jpg.

Support for ZY-3 is available in Geomatica and GXL 2013.

About PCI Geomatics

PCI Geomatics is a world-leading developer of software and systems for remote sensing, imagery processing, and photogrammetry. With more than 30 years of experience in the geospatial industry, PCI is recognized globally for its excellence in providing software for accurately and rapidly processing both satellite and aerial imagery. PCI has installed more than 30,000 licenses, in over 150 countries worldwide. Find out more about PCI Geomatics at www.pcigeomatics.com.

Press Contact

Kevin R. Jones
Director, Marketing and Communications
T: 819-770-0022 x 214
E: jones@pcigeomatics.com
Web: www.pcigeomatics.com

Twitter: @pcigeomatics

RICHMOND HILL, Ontario, Canada—June 17, 2013: PCI Geomatics, a world-leading developer of remote sensing and photogrammetric software and systems, announces the appointment of Arnold Hougham as Vice President, Sales and Marketing.

“I am very pleased to welcome Arnold back to PCI Geomatics,” said Terry Moloney, President and CEO of PCI Geomatics. “Arnold brings a unique skillset, with strong global leadership and strategic communications experience that will be an asset to the company as we grow moving forward.”

Mr. Hougham returns to PCI Geomatics as Vice President of Sales & Marketing after an eight-year hiatus, during which he worked at National Instruments developing the company’s reseller channel for academic products. Prior to first joining PCI, Mr. Hougham held positions with the Government of Alberta and the University of Saskatchewan. He holds undergraduate and Master’s degrees from the University of Waterloo.

“My passion is for Geomatics, so it is with great enthusiasm that I return to PCI Geomatics,” said Mr. Hougham. “The Geospatial industry is very dynamic and innovative, with imagery fueling an increasingly large number of business critical processes. I look forward to working with PCI, its global customer base, and partners to continue to offer leading edge geospatial processing and analysis software tools.”

A corporate headshot of Mr. Hougham is available at: http://www.pcigeomatics.com/images/Headshots/Hougham.jpg.

About PCI Geomatics

PCI Geomatics is a world-leading developer of software and systems for remote sensing, imagery processing, and photogrammetry. With more than 30 years of experience in the geospatial industry, PCI is recognized globally for its excellence in providing software for accurately and rapidly processing both satellite and aerial imagery. PCI has installed more than 30,000 licenses, in over 150 countries worldwide. Find out more about PCI Geomatics at www.pcigeomatics.com.

Press Contact

Kevin R. Jones
Director, Marketing and Communications
T: 819-770-0022 x 214
E: jones@pcigeomatics.com
Web: www.pcigeomatics.com

Twitter: @pcigeomatics

RICHMOND HILL, Ontario, Canada—June 18, 2013: PCI Geomatics, a world leading developer of remote sensing and photogrammetric software and systems, announces it has released Geomatica 2013 Service Pack 2 (SP2) for both Windows and Linux operating systems.

Geomatica 2013 SP2 contains maintenance fixes and includes all updates delivered since Geomatica 2013 Service Pack 1.

Geomatica 2013 SP2 also continues to provide industry-leading sensor support by including support for new sensors like SPOT-6, KOMPSAT-3, Landsat-8, and ZY-3.

PCI Geomatics recommends that Geomatica 2013 customers download and install Service Pack 2 to ensure the highest-quality experience when working with the software. Geomatica 2013 SP2 is available for download at www.pcigeomatics.com/updates.

Customers who have questions or encounter installation issues can contact PCI Support at support@pcigeomatics.com, or visit the support site at www.pcigeomatics.com/support.

About PCI Geomatics

PCI Geomatics is a world-leading developer of software and systems for remote sensing, imagery processing, and photogrammetry. With more than 30 years of experience in the geospatial industry, PCI is recognized globally for its excellence in providing software for accurately and rapidly processing both satellite and aerial imagery. PCI has installed more than 30,000 licenses, in over 150 countries worldwide. Find out more about PCI Geomatics at www.pcigeomatics.com.

Press Contact

Kevin R. Jones
Director, Marketing and Communications
T: 819-770-0022 x 214
E: jones@pcigeomatics.com
Web: www.pcigeomatics.com

Twitter: @pcigeomatics

Geomatica Discover ReleasedNew software tool quickly indexes geospatial image and vector data on local or networked volumes

RICHMOND HILL, Ontario, Canada—June 26, 2013: PCI Geomatics, a world leading developer of remote sensing and photogrammetric software and systems, announced today the release of Geomatica Discover, PCI’s new browser-based software tool that crawls local, system drives or removable drives to automatically create a searchable geospatial data catalog.

“One of the biggest challenges our users are faced with is the rapid rate of data creation, which can cause inefficiencies and result in wasted time searching for suitable geospatial data within their organization when executing projects,” said Peter Hazlett, Product Manager at PCI Geomatics. “Geomatica Discover brings a great deal of value to anyone working with geospatial data by creating a simple, searchable, and graphical database.”

Geomatica Discover is designed to help users locate the data they need for specific projects. Users can either create search queries based on image/sensor type, resolution, acquisition date, geo-location, or search for data by simply panning and zooming on the map based interface to obtain dynamic, real time results over a specific area. For further efficiency, users can also sort imagery based on metadata, define rules to group imagery into sets, and quickly bundle, archive, and share imagery in just a few mouse clicks.

Geomatica Discover supports the latest versions of Internet Explorer (Version 9 or later), Google Chrome, and Mozilla Firefox.

Geomatica Discover is available for Microsoft Windows operating systems. For more information, please visit: www.pcigeomatics.com/discover

Features in Geomatica Discover

Browser-based GUI streamlines working with data
Import any type of geospatial data, create sets, search metadata, and more
Open data directly into Geomatica Focus from the Discover interface (requires Geomatica 2013 SP2)
Full query system lets you search for data based on sensor type, resolution, acquisition date, and more
Bundle and Archive your selected datasets for easy organization and sharing
Map display shows graphical footprints for all of your data with simple GUI pan and zoom tools.

Format and Sensor Support
Geomatica Discover can locate and directly access over 100 image and GIS formats, including:

Digital Globe
GeoEye
Kompsat-2
Landsat 7
Rapideye
Spot
Envisat
Radarsat-2
Terrasar-X
ESRI SHP
GeoTIFF
NITF
and more…

About PCI Geomatics
PCI Geomatics is a world-leading developer of software and systems for remote sensing, imagery processing, and photogrammetry. With more than 30 years of experience in the geospatial industry, PCI is recognized globally for its excellence in providing software for accurately and rapidly processing both satellite and aerial imagery. PCI has installed more than 30,000 licenses, in over 150 countries worldwide. Find out more about PCI Geomatics at www.pcigeomatics.com.

Press Contact
Kevin R. Jones
Director, Marketing and Communications
T: 819-770-0022 x 214
E: jones@pcigeomatics.com
Web: www.pcigeomatics.com
Twitter: @pcigeomatics

PCI and IAVO Partnership Announced for distribution of 3DFE

RICHMOND HILL, Ontario, Canada—June 27, 2013:PCI Geomatics, a world leading developer of remote sensing and photogrammetric software and systems, is pleased to announce that it has entered into a partnership with IAVO to distribute its 3D Feature Extract (3DFE) software.

3DFE provides users the ability to model 3D features in a 2D environment, by calculating feature heights and outlines through the use of overlapping satellite or aerial imagery. The software has been developed by leading scientists at IAVO (International Association of Virtual Organizations), a research and development company based in Durham, North Carolina.

“3DFE provides users the ability to extract highly accurate textured buildings and other features from stereo imagery, with minimum training”, said Peter Hazlett, Desktop Product Manager at PCI Geomatics. “We are pleased to be working with IAVO, and to provide this 3D mapping technology to the global marketplace.”

“We believe 3DFE offers capabilities aligned tightly with emerging trends in 3D geospatial and feature modeling, and we anticipate the software being enthusiastically embraced by PCI’s various user communities”, added Dr. Matthew Heric, Chief Executive Officer at IAVO.

PCI Geomatics continues to provide leading edge tools to correct satellite and aerial imagery, having recently released its GXL 2013 software, which includes innovative 2.5D hybrid DSM to DTM editing tools. With 3DFE software, customers will also be able to perform true ortho processing, delineate building footprints, and make building models.

“Building models are expensive to generate or purchase from traditional sources”, said David Piekny, Solutions Product Manager at PCI Geomatics. “Using 3DFE, our customers can easily produce building footprints, extrude 3D buildings, and also derive building texture information, all through the use of their existing stereo data collections. The software provides highly accurate results, is intuitive and simple to use, and will provide increased production speeds for true ortho projects”.

PCI Geomatics will act as the global distributor for the software, with additional distribution to be implemented through its international reseller network. For sales related inquiries or any additional information regarding 3DFE, please contact us at: info@pcigeomatics.com

RICHMOND HILL, Ontario, Canada—July 8, 2013: PCI Geomatics, a world leading developer of remote sensing and photogrammetric software and systems, is pleased to announce that it is currently working with Canadian company, UrtheCast Corp., to supply a high volume and scalable Cloud based GXL system that will be used to process imagery captured by UrtheCast’s sensors on board the International Space Station (ISS).

UrtheCast Corp., a Vancouver based startup company, is planning to deploy two camera systems that will be installed onboard the ISS, which will stream images and video of the Earth from space in near real time. The two camera systems, one medium (Medium Resolution Camera - MRC) and one high (High Resolution Camera - HRC) resolution, will be launched onboard a Soyuz rocket through the Russian Space Agency.

Once onboard, the cameras will be remotely operated and are capable of collecting nearly 30Mkm² of imagery and 150 minutes of video data on a daily basis, which will be downloaded to ground stations around the world. The video and imagery will then be processed and distributed to subscribed users directly or via UrtheCasts’ website. PCI Geomatics was selected by UrtheCast to supply its highly scalable GeoImaging Accelerator (GXL) solution, which is perfectly suited for the planned ground segment since it will be able to process video and imagery on the Cloud.

“Our engineers approached PCI Geomatics to identify a scalable processing system that could work with the large volumes of video and imagery our cameras will be capturing,” said Scott Larson, President and CEO, UrtheCast Corp. “What UrtheCast required was innovative processing solutions that could handle Cloud based processing, and we found a natural fit working with PCI, which is a well-recognized Canadian company.”

“We are very pleased to have been selected by UrtheCast Corp. to deploy our Cloud based processing solution, as well as to define a custom sensor model for their camera system,” said Terry Moloney, President and CEO, PCI Geomatics. “Phase I of the implementation has gone very well, providing processing capability for an internal camera system. In Phases II and III, our GXL solution will be processing MRC and HRC imagery to attain high levels of quality, which will be essential to the success of the UrtheCast service.”

PCI Geomatics will continue to work closely with UrtheCast engineers over the coming months, leading to the launch of the camera systems later in 2013. Following the launch onboard the Soyuz rocket, the system is expected to be operational following a commissioning phase, to be completed in 2014. To find out more about UrtheCast, please visit www.urthecast.com.

To view a sample image and the GXL interface used by UrtheCast, follow this link:

www.pcigeomatics.com/pressnews/images/GXL_UrtheCast.jpg.

About PCI Geomatics

PCI Geomatics is a world-leading developer of software and systems for remote sensing, imagery processing, and photogrammetry. With more than 30 years of experience in the geospatial industry, PCI is recognized globally for its excellence in providing software for accurately and rapidly processing satellite and aerial imagery. There are more than 30,000 PCI licenses, in over 150 countries worldwide. Find out more about PCI Geomatics at www.pcigeomatics.com.

Press Contact

Kevin R. Jones
Director, Marketing and Communications
T: 819-770-0022 x 214
E: jones@pcigeomatics.com
Web: www.pcigeomatics.com

-- Users can perform 3D modeling with existing hardware --

RICHMOND HILL, Ontario, Canada—August 07, 2013: PCI Geomatics, a world-leading developer of remote sensing and photogrammetric software and systems, announces with is partner IAVO, the release of 3D FeatureXtract (3DFE).

By calculating feature heights and outlines of overlapping satellite or aerial imagery, 3DFE can model 3D features in a 2D environment, and it does this without any need for specialized hardware. The software was developed by leading scientists at IAVO, a research and development company based in Durham, North Carolina.

“3D FeatureXtract will allow customers to easily derive building footprints, a key requirement for producing true ortho image products from satellite or aerial imagery,” said Peter Hazlett, Desktop Product Manager at PCI Geomatics. “3DFE is easy to use and requires no special hardware – anyone with basic computer skills can learn how to model in 3DFE in a matter of minutes.”

“We believe 3DFE offers capabilities aligned tightly with emerging trends in 3D geospatial and feature modeling, and we anticipate the software being enthusiastically embraced by PCI’s various user communities,” added Dr. Matthew Heric, Chief Executive Officer at IAVO.

PCI Geomatics continues to provide leading-edge tools to correct satellite and aerial imagery, having recently released its GXL 2013 software, which includes innovative 2.5D hybrid DSM-to-DTM editing tools. With 3DFE, customers perform true ortho processing, delineate building footprints, and create fully textured 3D building models.

“Building models are expensive to generate or purchase from traditional sources,” said David Piekny, Solutions Product Manager at PCI Geomatics. “Using 3DFE, our customers can easily produce building footprints, extrude 3D buildings, and also derive building texture information, all through the use of their existing stereo data collections. The software provides highly accurate results, is intuitive and simple to use, and will provide increased production speeds for true ortho projects.”

PCI Geomatics is the global distributor for the software, with additional distribution through its international reseller network. To find out more, and to download an evaluation version of the software, visit:

www.pcigeomatics.com/3DFE.

About PCI Geomatics

PCI Geomatics is a world-leading developer of software and systems for remote sensing, imagery processing, and photogrammetry. With more than 30 years of experience in the geospatial industry, PCI is recognized globally for its excellence in providing software that accurately and rapidly processes satellite and aerial imagery. There are more than 30,000 PCI licenses in over 150 countries worldwide. Find out more about PCI Geomatics at www.pcigeomatics.com.

Press Contact

Kevin R. Jones
Director, Marketing and Communications
T: 819-770-0022 x 214
E: jones@pcigeomatics.com
Web: www.pcigeomatics.com

Twitter: @pcigeomatics

RICHMOND HILL, Ontario, Canada—August 20, 2013: PCI Geomatics, a world-leading developer of remote sensing and photogrammetric software and systems, announces the availability of its Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) image analysis in Geomatica online training sessions.

Participants in the course will explore data-processing techniques in Focus, a module of Geomatica. The course will take participants through basic techniques in ingesting, calibrating, and displaying SAR data. The course will also cover more advanced techniques, such as applying radiometric enhancements, processing detected data (single or dual polarization), performing unsupervised coherent and incoherent polarimetric decomposition, analyzing polarimetric discriminators, and performing coherent change detection with polarimetric data.

The first session of this online course is being delivered in support of The Esri and PCI Natural Resources Imagery Grant Program. Program participants will be developing projects that increase efficiency, productivity, and accuracy in the use of SAR and optical imagery for detecting and analyzing land-cover change.

“There is strong interest in using SAR data in GIS workflows,” said Punarvasu Pillalamarri, Product Manager at PCI Geomatics.“This advanced course exploring data preparation, processing, and analysis techniques for working with SAR data is an excellent opportunity for GIS professionals to use SAR imagery in new ways.”

“SAR imagery provides a unique layer of information that is captured from active sensors, such as RADARSAT-2, TerraSAR-X, and other commercial space-borne SAR sensors,” said John Wessels, Senior SAR Scientist at PCI Geomatics. “New sources of SAR imagery are becoming available over the coming years, and PCI continues to lead the way in developing sensor-agnostic, powerful tools to extract information from SAR imagery,” he added.

This course also covers the SAR Polarimetry Target Analysis (SPTA) tool. Participants will use the tool to define a series of targets and perform an in-depth analysis of their polarimetric properties. They will learn how to generate and analyze numerical and graphical outputs, including customized histogram and polarimetric response plots.

The SAR Image Analysis in Geomatica training program is the latest in a series of instructor-led online training programs delivered by PCI Geomatics throughout the year. For a complete listing of course descriptions, dates, and times, visit www.pcigeomatics.com/training.

About PCI Geomatics

PCI Geomatics is a world-leading developer of software and systems for remote sensing, imagery processing, and photogrammetry. With more than 30 years of experience in the geospatial industry, PCI is recognized globally for its excellence in providing software that accurately and rapidly processes satellite and aerial imagery. There are more than 30,000 PCI licenses in over 150 countries worldwide. Find out more about PCI Geomatics at www.pcigeomatics.com.

Media Contact

Kevin R. Jones
Director, Marketing and Communications
T: 819-770-0022 x 214
E: jones@pcigeomatics.com
Web: www.pcigeomatics.com

Twitter: @pcigeomatics

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PCI Geomatics Appoints Arnold Hougham as Vice President, Sales and Marketing

PCI Geomatics Releases Service Pack 2 for Geomatica 2013

PCI Geomatics Releases Geomatica Discover

PCI Geomatics Partners with IAVO to Distribute 3D Feature Extraction Software

PCI Geomatics’ GXL System to Process Video and Imagery to be Collected on the International Space Station (ISS)

PCI Geomatics and IAVO-RS Announce the Release of 3D FeatureXtract Software

-- Users can perform 3D modeling with existing hardware --

PCI Geomatics to provide SAR imagery analysis training for Esri and PCI Natural Resources Imagery Grant Program