Kentucky is now the first state in the nation to capture oblique (side/angle view) photography of its entire geography from the sky. The KYFromAbove Program and its contractor, NV5, achieved this milestone after pilots flew 2,600 flight lines over Kentucky’s beautiful landscape, travelling 117,000 miles and capturing 40,660 square miles of the commonwealth’s land, including our cities, towns, farms, lakes, mountains and more.
“This is an amazing resource that will improve public safety, all while boosting our infrastructure projects and economic development,” Gov. Andy Beshear said. “These images will have an immediate impact, because they can help first responders find and assist Kentuckians after a 911 call. And they’ll have a long-term impact, as more companies and families choose to move to our new Kentucky home. Congratulations to KYFromAbove, NV5 and every pilot that helped us lead the nation and reach this goal of statewide coverage.”
Aerial images make it easier for emergency management leaders to assess damage after natural disasters and find safer places to rebuild. They can also enhance:
• economic site development and selection;
• plan and design work for infrastructure projects;
• broadband deployment;
• wildlife management;
• property assessment; and
• a variety of projects undertaken by engineers, surveyors, real estate firms, commercial developers, roofing and fencing contractors, consultants and other professionals.
The NV5 team completed acquisition of oblique imagery of the entire state in just two years, despite challenging requirements to accurately capture Kentucky’s geography. The imagery could only be collected under ideal conditions: minimal leaves on the trees, no clouds, no snow, no flooding and at a sun angle of greater than 30 degrees.
The KY From Above Program was established in 2010 by the Kentucky Geographic Information Advisory Council (GIAC) and is managed by the Commonwealth Office of Technology’s Division of Geographic Information. Its mission is to democratize access to geographic information in Kentucky by providing detailed elevation data and aerial photography at KYFromAbove.ky.gov, all at no cost to government leaders, the private sector and all Kentuckians.
The new imagery is being stored in a publicly accessible cloud folder, thanks to the Amazon Open Data Sponsorship program. This means that every community across the commonwealth now has access to both oblique and ortho (top-down view) imagery at a stunning three-inch resolution. Typically, these images would only be available in larger cities and counties due to budget constraints, but now, even the smallest communities will have full and equal access.
Dispatchers at Kentucky’s certified 911 call centers are some of the first to benefit from the new aerial images.
“The KyFromAbove aerial photography initiative is highly beneficial to Kentucky’s first responders,” said Mike Sunseri, the Kentucky Office of Homeland Security’s deputy executive director and 911 Services Board administrator. “Adding the ability to leverage oblique imagery is another valuable tool to increase situational awareness during emergencies and better direct emergency response.”
The accuracy and clarity of the new imagery provide an unprecedented aerial view of Kentucky’s landscape and context for hundreds of map layers in state and local government agencies.
“High-resolution orthoimagery is a vital foundational component of our community’s geographic information system and is our most widely used base map,” said Curt Bynum, Louisville/Jefferson County Information Consortium (LOJIC)’s director. “Oblique imagery coming with the most recent, statewide acquisition will be an important new resource for a wide range of public services including emergency response, asset management and economic development in Louisville Metro. LOJIC has been closely involved with the KyFromAbove effort since its beginning in 2010 and we commend our Kentucky Division of Geographic Information for many years of building Kentucky orthoimagery and LiDAR resources and for leading the effort to make Kentucky the first state in the U.S. to acquire statewide oblique aerial imagery.”
Kentucky Finance & Administration Cabinet
Increasing property assessments was the primary purpose. The other benefits were purely accidental.
Sounds like a waste of tax dollars to me.
Loved the low level passes over my secluded home and private property, by the way.
Usually altitude waivers are 500 AGL.
These guys were lower, but not to worry, its all for a good cause: the government. Oh, and roofing contractors, developers, real estate companies, PVAs, and an endless list of helpful government busy bodies and an inexhaustible list of sales people, undoubtedly looking out for us.
Looking us over, up, and down for certain, but no doubt for our own good.
I expect the benefits to begin shortly.
Didn’t Google maps do this with satellites already?
Congratulations on yet another awesome project completed under your Governor. The information in this will doubtlessly save lives, tax dollars, and result in real-time solid planning.
Totally agree with other commenters. Talk about lack of privacy!! Keep it to the cities only. We take care of our own in the country. We rarly need anyone else’s help. Those city folk have no srlf preservation, resiliency,sense of communit, common sense or survival skills. They need state and government help. The gov does not need to know every dammed thing about what you have or do on your own property. PERIOD
Intrusive
I worked in Geographical Information Systems for the DOT for a couple of decades. Kentucky has long been recognized as the leading state as far as mapping is concerned. If this bothers you then what I am going tell tell you is going to rock your world. Look up Louisville Jefferson Information Consortium. I created some of data used. Also Kentucky is a leader in LIDAR mapping.