Norcross, GA --- In cooperation with Spain’s national agencies and regional governments, the Spanish National Geographic Institute has embarked on its ambitious National Aerial Orthophoto Plan (Plan Nacional de Ortofotografía Aérea or PNOA). The project’s goal is to create half-meter orthophotos covering the entire country—more than half a million square kilometers—and update the data every two years. Next year, resolution for this project will increase to 25 centimeters for the whole territory and 10 centimeters for urban areas.

Venturo, one of the country’s largest private mapping companies with 125 employees, is responsible for creating orthophotos of four of 17 PNOA regions. Their portion covers some 60,000 square kilometers, captured at 50-centimeter resolution (50,000 square kilometers) and 25-centimeter resolution (10,000 square kilometers). While that’s a huge undertaking by most standards, the firm hopes it’s just the start of its PNOA involvement. “Our goal is to be one of the leaders in Spanish/European mapping market,” explained Pedro Llorens, a director with the firm.

Brothers Manuel and Jose Antonio Coronado, successful Leica Geosystems distributors in the south and west of Spain and in Portugal, started Venturo about two years ago. The company is based in Asturias--an area known for its coal mining industry. With the mines now closed, the region looks to high-tech employers like Venturo for future growth and prosperity.

The firm’s 2,000-square-meter office is stocked to support such growth with 12 Leica Photogrammetry Suite (LPS) digital photogrammetric workstations, 40 Digi3D (a local feature extraction SW) stereoplotting workstations, a Leica DSW700 photogrammetric scanner, five Leica IMAGINEÒ Professional remote sensing licenses, 24 SIGRAF cadastre licenses, and an EMC2 Clarion 35TB massive storage disk library.

Venturo currently offers orthophoto, stereoplotting, mapmaking and cadastre services. The company hopes to extend into other areas with the acquisition of aerial sensors and airborne LIDAR. “We want to expand into geographic information systems, urban and regional planning, and related areas,” Llorens said.

“With a product line that includes airborne sensors and software for photogrammetry, remote sensing, and 3D visualization, we are the perfect partner to help Venturo achieve its goals in expanding its service scope to secure mapping projects worldwide,” said Richard McKay, Vice President, Sales, Leica Geosystems Geospatial Imaging.

About Leica Geosystems Geospatial Imaging Division
When building image-based maps, you need reliable measurements and solutions for your entire workflow. So when it has to be right, more geospatial professionals trust Leica Geosystems Geospatial Imaging, LLC to help them collect, analyze, and present spatial information. Leica Geosystems is powering geospatial imaging by putting precise imaging to work. Its broad array of airborne sensors, photogrammetry and remote sensing software solutions capture data efficiently, reference imagery accurately, measure and analyze easily and present spatial information, even in 3D. Those who use Leica Geosystems Geospatial Imaging products every day trust them for their precision, their seamless integration, and their superior customer support. Delivering geospatial imaging solutions with precision, integration, and service from Leica Geosystems. When it has to be right.

For more information about Leica Geosystems or its products and services, call +1 770 776 3400, toll free +1 866 534 2286, or visit www.gi.leica-geosystems.com.

About Leica Geosystems
With close to 200 years of pioneering solutions to measure the world, Leica Geosystems products and services are trusted by professionals worldwide to help them capture, analyze, and present spatial information. Leica Geosystems is best known for its broad array of products that capture accurately, model quickly, analyze easily, and visualize and present spatial information in 3D. Those who use Leica Geosystems products every day trust them for their dependability, the value they deliver, and the superior customer support. Based in Heerbrugg, Switzerland, Leica Geosystems is a global company with tens of thousands of customers supported by more than 2,400 employees in 23 countries and hundreds of partners located in more than 120 countries around the world. Leica Geosystems is a publicly listed company, registered with the Swiss Stock Exchange (SWX).

For more information see: www.leica-geosystems.com