ordering imagery

[DougHirschberg]

Hello,

    I have been tasked with obtaining imagery or aerial photography for some counties in the Central Valley of California (Fresno, Kings, and Tulare Counties). My company is doing transportation work so we need to see the latest changes in potential right-of-way areas.   I have not been given a budget.  I have never ordered commercial data before so I don't know all the ins-and-outs.  I have reviewed the free (latest 2012; too old) doqq offerings from the state of CA and a commercial outfit that mosaics doqqs but their latest are 2014.

My tentative conclusion is that 2015 DOQQs for my area of interest would work.  In lieu of that, a good resolution, up-to-date, natural color imagery that wouldn't need any manipulating in an image processing software could work as well.

Please consider these preferences in your response:

  * Good resolution data, like 1 foot and probably not more coarse than one meter.

  * Data captured in 2015, and possibly updated quarterly?

  * A file format that can be opened in Google Earth (which apparently has imagery which is too old for what we need).

  * Imagery/photography that is already geo-referenced, or a company that includes it as a service.

  * A file format that I can geo-reference, if necessary, in ArcMap (10.3.1 Advanced license, no additional extensions)

  * true color (24-bit)?  (Do not need IR)

  * competitively priced

Thank you for your ideas and suggestions. Please feel free to suggest specific companies by name.

Doug

[CodyBenkelman]

Doug

this may not fill your needs in all areas, but I think the highest probability for the coverage you need at an affordable price will be either Nearmap or Hexagon, both of which are available through the ArcGIS Marketplace.

https://marketplace.arcgis.com/listing.html?id=8c03e0f13f524128abe36beaf1c76d52

https://marketplace.arcgis.com/listing.html?id=5530e673d4cd4d618b4ae33e4f38602f

You should also consider satellite vendors if you have needs in specific regions that are not available in existing data collections.  You can look in the ArcGIS Marketplace for "imagery"  https://marketplace.arcgis.com/search.html#t=data&c_data=image 

Cody B.

[ChrisDonohue__GISP]

One free imagery source to consider is this:

National Agricultural Imagery Program (NAIP)  1 Meter Resolution.  Central California has 2014 ones available for free download.  Also, they can be brought directly into ArcMap with a service.  Note - they are free to view and download, but they do charge a fee if you want a disk burned.

Details:

How can NAIP be accessed?    

CCMs are available for free download through the USDA Geospatial Data Gateway, http://datagateway.nrcs.usda.gov/. They can also be purchased through the APFO Customer Service Section; 801-844-2922, or apfo.sales@slc.usda.gov.  

For each state, the most recent year of NAIP Imagery DOQQs is available on an ArcGIS server. The state based services can be added into ArcGIS Desktop by adding http://gis.apfo.usda.gov/arcgis/services Please note: This link will not work unless you are using ESRI's ArcGIS application. This link is for customers who can consume Web Mapping Services (WMS) only.   

Learn detailed instructions on accessing the NAIP state based image services in ArcGIS Desktop 9.3 (....   

Source: NAIP Imagery

This may help you keep rolling while you order more recent, better resolution imagery.

Chris Donohue, GISP

[MarkRomero]

Hi Doug,

Given your requirements, I would say the Hexagon service is your best option. They just recently processed all of California, so the imagery is up to date with 2015 imagery. It's one foot resolution and accessible in all ArcGIS clients. There is a free trial if you click on the link Cody sent, you can access the Try It button. You'll need to be part of an ArcGIS Online organization.

As for NAIP Imagery, you can easily access the NAIP service that's part of ArcGIS Online. You do however need to be part of an ArcGIS Online organization. Here is the direct link. Living Atlas of the World | ArcGIS.

Mark