Atlanta, GA – Leica Geosystems GIS & Mapping, LLC today announced North West Group has obtained its third Leica ADS40 Airborne Digital Sensor, which will better enable the company to deliver the highest quality digital imagery to its customers.

“Due to the tremendous demand from our clients and the rapid acceptance of the Leica ADS40 as the digital solution delivering the best color image fidelity, we purchased a third sensor,” said John Welter, Vice President of North West Group. “This sensor was immediately deployed onto projects in the South Eastern United States to help fulfill the spring season leaf-off commitments.

The team of North West Group, EarthData, and Horizons have worked together to acquire imagery for the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Farm Service Agency (FSA) National Agriculture Inventory Project (NAIP) since 2003. The team has been awarded approximately 41,000 digital orthophoto quarter-quadrangles (DOQQs), to be produced using the Leica ADS40 digital sensor.  This award is for the states of California and Montana at 1m resolution and a repeat award of the state of Texas at 2 meter resolution.  This follows on the team’s 2004 success with the Idaho, Texas (1 meter) and Louisiana (2 meter) NAIP award.

The goal of NAIP is to acquire current and accurate imagery over all agricultural lands of the continental United States annually, which is used to monitor and manage farm programs. NAIP annually acquires current and accurate imagery over all agricultural lands in the continental United States and delivers it to its various USDA Service Centers. The USDA adheres to two strict requirements in the imagery acquisition process: ortho-imagery must be provided quickly to Service Centers for mandated annual compliance review; and 1 meter ortho-imagery becomes the updated image base layer for the USDA's Geographic Information System (GIS).

“The Leica ADS40 provides fast and accurate photogrammetric results that meet the USDA's requirements for the largest digital ortho programs undertaken to date,” stated Bob Morris, President of Leica Geosystems GIS & Mapping. “The ADS40 uniquely enables customers like North West Group to employ an all digital workflow that delivers higher accuracy, more detailed information and simultaneous acquisition of seven bands of information. We are proud to equip this team with seven of the best sensors available for this and their future NAIP projects.”

All imagery collected in the 2004 NAIP program by the North West team can be purchased in a modified format at North West’s Valtus Imagery Services web site (www.valtus.com) either as direct download or as a subscription service that allows the data to be seamlessly utilized in any ArcXML or WMS compliant application. The NAIP 2005 imagery will also be available in a similar format from Valtus once completed and accepted by the USDA.

About North West Group
North West Group is a leading aerial data acquisition company dedicated to providing high quality aerial mapping and related spatial data services to engineering and mapping firms, environmental consulting firms, government agencies and other organizations that use aerial imagery. For years, North West has remained a pioneer in developing various techniques to maximize efficiency and productivity, both in photo acquisition and other mapping services. By dedicating a significant portion of our resources to continuing research and development, it remains at the leading edge of the aerial photography industry. With its reputation for fast, efficient service, North West has taken industry standards and raised the bar. For more information about North West Group visit www.northwestgeo.com.

About Leica Geosystems GIS & Mapping
Leica Geosystems GIS & Mapping Division helps professionals collect, analyze and present spatial information, enabling customers to put precise imaging to work by powering the entire workflow of geospatial imaging. Its broad array of airborne sensors, photogrammetric and remote sensing software solutions capture data efficiently, reference imagery accurately, measure and analyze easily and present spatial information in 3D. Leica Geosystems GIS & Mapping, LLC is a wholly owned subsidiary of Leica Geosystems AG.  For more information about Leica Geosystems GIS & Mapping or its products and services, call +1 404 248 9000, toll free +1 877 463 7327, or visit gis.leica-geosystems.com.

About Leica Geosystems
With close to 200 years of pioneering solutions to measure the planet, professionals all over the world trust Leica Geosystems to ease the handling of spatial data. Leica Geosystems develops, manufactures and markets solutions that capture, analyze, model, and visualize spatial information in all dimensions. Based in Switzerland, Leica Geosystems delivers its advanced product technology and service capabilities through five divisions: Surveying & Engineering, GIS & Mapping, Metrology, Consumer Products, and High Definition Surveying. The global company supports tens of thousands of customers all over the world with an employee base greater than 2,400 people in 23 countries and through hundreds of partners in more than 120 nations. Leica Geosystems is a publicly listed company, registered with the Swiss Stock Exchange (LGSN-SWX). For more information see: www.leica-geosystems.com