INDUSTRY

3D Model Developed Using DigitalGlobe High-Resolution Satellite Imagery -- ImageCat, Inc., a DigitalGlobe business partner and the leading provider of advanced technologies for risk and disaster management, has released its 3D-City model for the City of London, United Kingdom. Created as a tool for managing corporate risks within vulnerable urban and industrial environments, the 3D-City suite is now enhanced with the addition of 3D-London, the first 3D model of its kind for the famous international city. 3D-London was developed using DigitalGlobe's QuickBird imagery. 3D-London offers a detailed structural rendering of more than 1,000 buildings in London, including renowned structures such as the Lloyds Building, St Paul's Cathedral, and the Swiss Re "gherkin" skyscraper. 3D-London also provides attribute information about building height, number of stories, and footprint area. The model can be visualized using popular online and off-the-shelf software packages including GoogleEarth, MSN Virtual Earth, VRML, ESRI 3D Analyst and other common GIS applications. According to Ronald T. Eguchi, ImageCat president and CEO, "3D-London was developed in response to increasing demand from the insurance, real estate, asset management and security industries for quick access to detailed information about high-value structures in London. With access to critical geotechnology data now at their fingertips, users will be able to make important decisions to help plan and prepare for potential disasters or other events impacting the city." 3D-London provides the city model and structural attribute information for applications ranging from the detailed visualization and structural characterization of individual properties, to blast modeling and line-of-site studies for security applications. 3D-London was developed using recently captured 60-centimeter resolution QuickBird satellite imagery from DigitalGlobe. The 3D model was constructed using MIHEA, the landmark building inventory extraction tool, developed collaboratively by ImageCat and Stanford University researchers. MIHEA takes a single high-resolution satellite image and applies a series of complex mathematical models to reconstruct the 3D urban landscape. All ImageCat 3D-City models are comprehensively validated through a detailed GPS-referenced in-field survey. "ImageCat's wealth of experience and innovation using geotechnologies and satellite imagery for emergency response lends itself well to a product such as 3D-London, which takes an even more proactive approach to myriad planning and preparation applications," said Mike McGill, DigitalGlobe's senior director, global commercial sales. "We look forward to other similar applications to come from ImageCat, which should be commended for its work in supporting relief and response efforts all over the world," he added. ImageCat has used DigitalGlobe and other geotechnologies extensively for responding to major natural disasters including Hurricane Katrina; the Indian Ocean tsunami; the Boumerdes, Algerian earthquake; the Bam, Iran earthquake; the Niigata, Japan earthquake; and 9/11. ImageCat's additional plans for 2006 include the launch of 3D-City version 1.1, in which the suite of building attributes is expanded to include additional characteristics requested by the insurance and reinsurance sectors. 3D-City models for major cities in the U.S. and Asia are scheduled for release in July 2006. This year, ImageCat will also be offering a custom 3D-City service to develop models for client-requested cities anywhere in the world.