Tuesday April 14, 6:26 pm Eastern Time
Company Press Release
Intermap and EarthWatch Win New NIMA Contract to Map Panama
CALGARY, Alberta--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 14, 1998--Further to an announcement made April 2, 1998, Intermap Technologies Inc.(ASE:IPG.A - news), the wholly-owned U.S. subsidiary of Intermap Technologies Ltd., and EarthWatch Inc. announced today that they have been awarded a contract to map the Panama Canal Zone for the National Imagery and Mapping Agency (NIMA) of the U.S. Government using Intermap's unique sensor and image processing technology.
Intermap will perform the work under subcontract to EarthWatch Inc. As an added feature to the contract, Intermap plans to generate the Geoid map during the survey using technology developed by the Geomatics Engineering Department of the University of Calgary under the leadership of Dr. Klaus Peter Schwarz and offer it to NIMA as a value-added sale. EarthWatch's contract with NIMA to provide commercial imagery data to Department of Defense and Intelligence Community customers was signed late last year.
''This activity will allow NIMA to provide mapping data over an area that has historically been difficult to obtain due to the heavy cloud cover over that region,'' said NIMA officials. ''This is also an example of NIMA's use of commercial solutions to fulfill the imagery and geospatial requirements of our customers,'' they added.
''This is a very exciting project for Intermap given the importance of the Panama Canal Zone and the importance of NIMA as a customer. With the transfer of the Panama Canal to the Government of Panama next year, this is a region of high interest to both the government and commercial market sectors. Intermap will own the rights to the data. This will create other opportunities to market the data through EarthWatch's Digital Globe and other sales channels,'' said Brian Bullock, President of Intermap Technologies Ltd.
''Furthermore, the addition of the Geoid mapping technology to our STAR-3i system is an important improvement in the Digital Elevation Models (DEMs) produced by Intermap. Instead of being referenced to an ellipsoid that is only an approximation of the earth's gravitational surface, we can now measure the gravitational surface and deliver a final DEM that has true orthometric heights. DEMs referenced to the true Geoid are particularly important in all applications involving subtle elevation changes and its effect on water flow - applications involving irrigation, drainage, flooding, canals and protection of environmentally sensitive areas will benefit.''
Under this program, Intermap will map an area that is centered on the Panama Canal Zone. Intermap will deliver a digital elevation model having a vertical accuracy of 3 meters and an orthorectified SAR image having a spatial resolution of 2.5 meters. This mapping will be performed using Intermap's STAR-3i interferometric synthetic aperture radar system that is mounted on a Lear 36 aircraft.
The Geoid product is also produced from data collected by the STAR-3i system. The potential worldwide market for Intermap's Geoid mapping technology is extremely large since the Geoid is not well mapped in most areas outside of North America and Western Europe. The Panama project will provide an important reference for future projects.
''It's the beginning of a new era,'' stated Jim Frelk, EarthWatch Incorporated's Vice President for Market Development. ''EarthWatch is pleased to be working closely with its data broker partner, Intermap Technologies, to support NIMA's growing needs for commercial remote sensing products and services.''
With its head office in Englewood, Colorado, Intermap Technologies Inc. employs 17 people and has offices in Houston and Washington, D.C. Intermap's parent company, Intermap Technologies Ltd., employs 120 people and has offices in Calgary and Ottawa. Intermap Technologies Ltd. is listed on the Alberta Stock Exchange and trades under the symbol IPG.A and can be found on the Internet at www.intermap.ca.
EarthWatch Inc. is a commercial imagery provider located in Longmont, Colorado. EarthWatch will be launching two submeter imaging satellites within the next few years to compliment its current service of providing data from a variety of imaging sensors. For more information about EarthWatch's product lines, visit the EarthWatch website at www.digitalglobe.com.
The Alberta Stock Exchange has neither approved nor disapproved of the information contained herein.
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Contact:
Intermap Technologies Ltd.
Brian L. Bullock, 403/266-0900
403/265-0499 (FAX)
intermap.ca
or
EarthWatch Incorporated
James Frelk, 303/682-3800
digitalglobe.com |
