Leicestershire, 12 April 2016 — Coventry City Council has taken delivery of the latest ultra-high resolution aerial photography from Bluesky. The 5 cm imagery provides an unrivalled level of detail with road markings and street furniture all visible within the dataset. The latest imagery, commissioned by the Council and captured by Bluesky in 2015, offers the most up to date view of recent development in the historic West Midlands city, which has seen significant changes in the last few years. Users of the Bluesky imagery across the Council are already realising benefits, with a dramatic reduction in site visits which is evidenced by operational efficiencies and reduced costs.
“The Bluesky aerial photomaps give us an easy to interpret, easy to use, up to date and detailed view of the city,” commented Martin Boyle, Systems Data Officer at Coventry City Council. “By making the data widely accessible through a variety of software solutions, we are reducing the need for site visits across a number of departments. This allows officers to use their time more efficiently and intelligently and reduce operational costs.”
Coventry City Council is deploying the data to users across the organisation using MapInfo Pro and the recently adopted Spectrum, both software solutions from Pitney Bowes. The combination of desktop GIS and web based location intelligence software currently gives access, via a corporate file sharing server, to the Bluesky aerial data to around 400 users across the Council; however, this figure is expected to increase.
Primary users of the Bluesky data are within the Council’s planning, highways, environment, property and green space departments. Applications within the planning service include review of building works against permissions granted, identification of possible development encroachment, and the visualisation and contextual analysis of proposed developments. Users within the highways department are identifying ground features such as road markings and street signage in order to maintain the highway asset database, and the Bluesky imagery is also helping inform and manage a new gulley cleaning programme.
“Of particular importance is the age and resolution of the Bluesky imagery,” continued Martin Boyle. “It allows us to see real world changes before they appear on the base maps. Including ground detail such as road markings and trees, the Bluesky data offers the perfect combination of accuracy, currency and detail.”
Other applications of the Bluesky data include site management and maintenance within the property and green space sections, air quality mapping and monitoring, and use within promotional material for both internal and external communications.
