Chicago, September 20: The Northeastern Illinois Planning Commission (NIPC) is organizing a partnership that will share the costs of acquiring high quality, region-wide aerial photographs next year. The Commission kicked off the Year 2000 Digital Orthophotography Consortium with two informational sessions that brought together representatives from federal, state, regional, county, and local agencies.

Orthophotography is prepared from aerial photographs which are corrected to produce images showing objects in their true geographic position and depicting them as they exist on the ground. In digital form, orthophotography can be used in computers to produce a highly accurate base map which can serve as a reference or backdrop for a wide range of uses, from land use interpretation to the compilation of building roof outlines to parcel mapping.

"Digital orthophotography represents a major advance in the production and use of aerial photographs," said John Swanson, NIPC's Acting Executive Director. "These images, when used in conjunction with existing geographic information systems (GIS) data, can yield superior results at reduced cost in staff time and dollars."

NIPC is overseeing the formation and administration of this unique consortium, and is participating in the group as a full financial partner. NIPC has been flying aerial photography of the region every five years since the 1960s, to coordinate its data collection efforts with the Census and mid-decade data programs.

Partners who commit to the consortium will meet in early October to identify flight specifications such as the scale and resolution of the photography, and to establish the terms of the consortium. In the meantime, NIPC is continuing its effort to identify all partners, both public and private, who might benefit from participation in the consortium. For more information on the digital orthophotography project, contact Nina Savar, GIS Manager, Northeastern Illinois Planning Commission (312-454-0400 X605) or William Holland, CEO, GeoAnalytics, Inc. (608-241-7100).

The Northeastern Illinois Planning Commission is the comprehensive planning agency for the six-county metropolitan area. In addition to planning, the agency provides technical and research assistance and reviews state and federal grant requests for local governments.

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