The historical advancement of society can be directly correlated
with the quality and accessibility of maps available to the
general public for everyday applications. Mobility, commerce,
the free exchange of ideas, leisure travel, investment, mitigation
of hazards, natural resource exploration, record keeping,
and social interaction are all facilitated. As maps became
more detailed, widely distributed and understood, quality
of life improved. Balance of power and quality of life disparities
between countries were roughly a function of population size
and literacy.
In more recent times the economic disparity between developed
and undeveloped countries has widened to the point that many
consider it dangerous and potentially detrimental to the long-term
good of society as we know it.
The field of photogrammetry is a rapidly changing one with
new technologies and protocols being developed constantly.
In a relatively short period of time the practice of photogrammetry
has gone from the analog world to digital. For over fifty
years conventional practice has been to fly aerial photography,
manually process the negatives, diapositives, contacts and
prints, and laboriously view stereoscopic pairs to capture
features and topography. Within the last ten years advances
in computer technology, digital cameras, and ever-more high
resolution remote sensing satellite images have allowed firms
like EMI to develop geomatics technology for optimal utilization
by different disciplines.
Unfortunately, the advances and specific applications realized
in some of the western world are limited to a comparatively
small percentage of the world's population. As an Asian-American
owned, US-based firm, one of the chief aims of EMI is to share
this technology with the rest of the United States, as well
as with the broader international community.
The use of laser scanning allows for conventional aerial photography
to be converted to digital format, which is then mathematically
adjusted to yield high accuracy rectified images. Until now,
this technology has been limited to very few organizations
and applications. The vast majority of potential users and
beneficiaries is either unaware or cannot use the technology
because of high initial set-up and training costs. If used
properly, these digital mapping techniques can result in lower
costs and more practical products than conventional techniques
provide. Color infrared (CIR) images have only been used for
a limited number of research projects, but can now be used
for many applications, including GIS basemapping.
The biggest hinderances to worldwide implementation of these
technologies is a general lack of awareness of their availability
and broad applicability; difficulty in transfer of this highly
technical knowledge and training of others in the use appropriate
methodologies and techniques; and resistance by champions
of conventional processes, who have a vested interest in limiting
process change. EMI exists to overcome each of these barriers,
believing quality of life for all of society can continue
to improve by use of high quality, efficiently produced, readily
accessible mapping products for everyday applications.
