Aerial photography is an incredibly valuable resource to a broad set of uses in the business, government, and research sectors. An aerial view, whether from a satellite or an airborne camera, provides excellent situational awareness, for among other things:
- Responding to a crisis - like 911 centers coordinating response to everyday emergencies or coordination for wildfires, flooding, and hurricanes
- Informing real-time consumer decisions and organizational operations - everything from tourism to package delivery
- Planning for the future - like siting and designing new developments and transportation projects
- Building map-based datasets of infrastructure and natural assets - to better inventory and analyze how urban and natural systems perform
- Providing a historical record over time - for dispute resolution and understanding development and change patterns
While it is expensive to acquire, it is practically indisputable that the immense value of accessible, up-to-date, and high-resolution aerial photography dwarfs the costs to capture and distribute the imagery.
So what's the problem? In a nutshell, there's no national model in place to efficiently fund, collect, and provide access to this highly desirable resource, that - unlike most types of products - actually becomes more valuable the more it is put to use.