Imagery works for growing city

Image: Nearmap

Location content provider Nearmap has partnered with the City of Durham, North Carolina, Public Works Department to upgrade its imagery on numerous projects.

Using real-time imagery from Nearmap in the field, the department streamlines data collection and saves time and money.

The department manages all infrastructure data for the city, including mapping the impervious area (structures that resist water infiltration) for the city’s $16 million a year Stormwater Utility Fee fund. “That is half a billion square feet of impervious area that we manage through digitization and review daily,” said Edward Cherry, city GIS administrator.

After using several satellite imagery systems with low resolution and infrequent captures, Cherry and his 14-member GIS staff determined the city needed far superior quality in their mapping imagery to accommodate the city’s explosive growth.

Captured every six months at a 2.8-inch ground sample distance, Nearmap now supplies Durham with up-to-date images accessible through web-based cloud servers.

With Nearmap, the Durham Public Works Department has achieved better monitoring of pavement conditions; time savings and documentation of road repairs; more detailed maps of city riparian zones; and accurate and detailed customer billing.

“With Nearmap, we’ve been able to update development processes and policies to support the revitalization of the downtown district as well as rapid city growth,” Cherry said.