ImageAmerica, a provider of high quality digital orthoimagery, provided rapid access to up-to-date imagery of the Hurricane Katrina disaster area. Using the latest digital camera system, along with the ER Mapper's ECW compression, ImageAmerica was able to deliver imagery to government emergency services teams for their coordinated relief efforts.

Images were acquired with ImageAmerica's high-resolution DDP-2 digital camera system. 700 square miles of high-quality six-inch digital aerial imagery of New Orleans and the surrounding area were captured and fully orthorectified and mosaicked in a 24 hour period. The data was delivered to the emergency operation centre in Baton Rouge. The imagery was also made available through an ER Mapper Image Web Server and ESRI ArcIMS based website developed by PlanSight of Rumely, Michigan accessible at http://katrina.webblake.com/. The imagery is also available through Google Earth.

An additional 800 square miles of six-inch imagery of the entire Mississippi Gulf Coast and Slidell, Louisiana were collected, processed and delivered to emergency responders and recovery planners.

"In emergency situations, response time is critical. The ER Mapper product allowed us to prepare our 1500 square miles of high-resolution orthoimagery for ready distribution and use in hours versus days. The timelines we were able to achieve in response to hurricane Katrina would not have been possible without ER Mapper's advanced image compression and distribution technology," said Kevin Reece, president of ImageAmerica.

Chris Ribbel, ER Mapper Americas president said, "With the devastation in Louisiana and Mississippi, it is imperative for information such as post-Katrina aerial photography to be in the hands of first responders. Many agencies involved were without the software and processed data to perform their jobs effectively. We have been pleased to assist in providing software licences and processing terabytes of aerial photography for these agencies."

For more information contact Richard Orchard, 0961 8 9388 2900, Richard.Orchard@ermapper.com, www.ermapper.com