ImageAmerica
Encyclopedia
ImageAmerica is an aerial photography
company that was acquired by Google
in July 2007. The company specialized in creating aerial photos with "accuracy, quick delivery and low cost". It previously sold its services primarily to city, county, state, and federal governments and to corporate customers. ImageAmerica also made money by selling low-cost imagery to county appraisers and assessors. The company's clients include the Texas Department of Transportation
, the U.S. Geological Survey, and the Lucas County
office that covers Toledo
, Ohio
. For satellite imaging, the company charges US$99 per 1 square miles (2.6 km²), compared to other companies which could charge from $500 to $700 and for a lower quality than what ImageAmerica offers. It also developed its own DDP-2 (Direct Digital Panoramic) camera system. The system is housed in an aircraft. It has the ability to capture details as small as 6 inches (15.2 cm) to 12 inches (30.5 cm). ImageAmerica's patented processing system has the ability to produce orthorectified
imagery corrected for perspective distortions. The company's technology also uses sensors which are based on a unique design from Sarnoff Research Labs
in Princeton
, New Jersey
.
The company was founded in 1998 and is based in the Spirit of St. Louis Airport
, Clayton
, Missouri
, United States
. ImageAmerica builds high resolution cameras for aerial photographs. The company provided high resolution black and white images of New Orleans following the events of Hurricane Katrina
. The company's products provide images for Google Maps
and Google Earth
.
When the company was acquired by Google, the acquisition price was not disclosed. After the acquisition, the project manager of Google Maps and Earth said in a statement that Google was excited "about how ImageAmerica’s technology will contribute to [Google's] mapping services down the road." She went on to say, "Since we're in the research and development phase right now it may be some time before you see any of this imagery in Google Maps or Earth." In the same month, Google was on an acquisition-spree and had already acquired six other companies: Panoramio
, PeakStream
, Zenter, Feedburner
, GrandCentral
, and Postini
.
Aerial photography
Aerial photography is the taking of photographs of the ground from an elevated position. The term usually refers to images in which the camera is not supported by a ground-based structure. Cameras may be hand held or mounted, and photographs may be taken by a photographer, triggered remotely or...
company that was acquired by Google
Google
Google Inc. is an American multinational public corporation invested in Internet search, cloud computing, and advertising technologies. Google hosts and develops a number of Internet-based services and products, and generates profit primarily from advertising through its AdWords program...
in July 2007. The company specialized in creating aerial photos with "accuracy, quick delivery and low cost". It previously sold its services primarily to city, county, state, and federal governments and to corporate customers. ImageAmerica also made money by selling low-cost imagery to county appraisers and assessors. The company's clients include the Texas Department of Transportation
Texas Department of Transportation
The Texas Department of Transportation is a governmental agency in the U.S. state of Texas. Its stated mission is to "work cooperatively to provide safe, effective and efficient movement of people and goods" throughout the state...
, the U.S. Geological Survey, and the Lucas County
Lucas County, Ohio
----...
office that covers Toledo
Toledo, Ohio
Toledo is the fourth most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Lucas County. Toledo is in northwest Ohio, on the western end of Lake Erie, and borders the State of Michigan...
, Ohio
Ohio
Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
. For satellite imaging, the company charges US$99 per 1 square miles (2.6 km²), compared to other companies which could charge from $500 to $700 and for a lower quality than what ImageAmerica offers. It also developed its own DDP-2 (Direct Digital Panoramic) camera system. The system is housed in an aircraft. It has the ability to capture details as small as 6 inches (15.2 cm) to 12 inches (30.5 cm). ImageAmerica's patented processing system has the ability to produce orthorectified
Orthophoto
An orthophoto, orthophotograph or orthoimage is an aerial photograph geometrically corrected such that the scale is uniform: the photo has the same lack of distortion as a map...
imagery corrected for perspective distortions. The company's technology also uses sensors which are based on a unique design from Sarnoff Research Labs
Sarnoff Corporation
Sarnoff Corporation, with headquarters in West Windsor Township, New Jersey, was a research and development company specializing in vision, video and semiconductor technology....
in Princeton
Princeton, New Jersey
Princeton is a community located in Mercer County, New Jersey, United States. It is best known as the location of Princeton University, which has been sited in the community since 1756...
, New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
.
The company was founded in 1998 and is based in the Spirit of St. Louis Airport
Spirit of St. Louis Airport
Spirit of St. Louis Airport is a public airport located 17 miles west of the central business district of St. Louis, in St. Louis County, Missouri, United States. It is owned by St. Louis County.- Facilities and aircraft :Spirit of St...
, Clayton
Clayton, Missouri
Clayton is an inner-ring suburb of St. Louis and the county seat of St. Louis County, Missouri. The population was 15,939 at the 2010 census. The city was organized in 1877 and is named after Ralph Clayton, who donated the land for the courthouse.-Geography:...
, Missouri
Missouri
Missouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. ImageAmerica builds high resolution cameras for aerial photographs. The company provided high resolution black and white images of New Orleans following the events of Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season was a powerful Atlantic hurricane. It is the costliest natural disaster, as well as one of the five deadliest hurricanes, in the history of the United States. Among recorded Atlantic hurricanes, it was the sixth strongest overall...
. The company's products provide images for Google Maps
Google Maps
Google Maps is a web mapping service application and technology provided by Google, free , that powers many map-based services, including the Google Maps website, Google Ride Finder, Google Transit, and maps embedded on third-party websites via the Google Maps API...
and Google Earth
Google Earth
Google Earth is a virtual globe, map and geographical information program that was originally called EarthViewer 3D, and was created by Keyhole, Inc, a Central Intelligence Agency funded company acquired by Google in 2004 . It maps the Earth by the superimposition of images obtained from satellite...
.
When the company was acquired by Google, the acquisition price was not disclosed. After the acquisition, the project manager of Google Maps and Earth said in a statement that Google was excited "about how ImageAmerica’s technology will contribute to [Google's] mapping services down the road." She went on to say, "Since we're in the research and development phase right now it may be some time before you see any of this imagery in Google Maps or Earth." In the same month, Google was on an acquisition-spree and had already acquired six other companies: Panoramio
Panoramio
Panoramio is a geolocation-oriented photo sharing website. Accepted photos uploaded to the site can be accessed as a layer in Google Earth and Google Maps, with new photos being added at the end of every month. The site's goal is to allow Google Earth users to learn more about a given area by...
, PeakStream
PeakStream
PeakStream was a parallel processing software company located in Redwood Shores, California founded by Matthew Papakipos and Asher Waldfogel in April 2005 and backed by Sequoia Capital and Kleiner Perkins. PeakStream released a high-performance parallel processing library targeting ATI graphics...
, Zenter, Feedburner
FeedBurner
FeedBurner is a web feed management provider launched in 2004. FeedBurner was founded by Dick Costolo, Eric Lunt, Steve Olechowski, and Matt Shobe. Costolo, a University of Michigan graduate, became CEO of Twitter in 2010...
, GrandCentral
GrandCentral
Google Voice is a telecommunications service by Google launched on March 11, 2009. Google Voice had some 1.4 million users in October 2009, 570,000 of whom used the service 7 days a week...
, and Postini
Postini
Postini is an e-mail and Web security and archiving service owned by Google since 2007. It provides cloud computing services for filtering e-mail spam and malware , offers optional e-mail archiving, and protects client networks from web-borne malware.-History:Postini was a startup company founded...
.