EarthData International, part of the Fugro Group since 10 April 2007, has been awarded a $5.9 million contract to complete aerial mapping over parts of South America for the United State’s National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA).
As with previous NGA contracts in the region, EarthData will use its GeoSAR radar mapping system to produce high-resolution image and terrain maps in support of land and information management activities.
GeoSAR penetrates the characteristic dense vegetation and near-constant cloud cover that renders conventional aerial mapping techniques cost-prohibitive or impossible. "Working in partnership with NGA on similar projects over the past 4 years, we have updated 30-year-old maps and delivered original data where none had previously existed due to these difficult conditions," explained EarthData President Anne Hale Miglarese.
Data acquisition for the 70,755-square-kilometer project will commence this month. In addition to EarthData’s earlier work South America, the company has performed GeoSAR mapping projects in Papua New Guinea and other Asia Pacific areas.
GeoSAR is owned and operated exclusively by EarthData and is the latest innovation in the company’s long history of developing, adapting, and commercializing emerging geospatial technologies.