October 20, 2009 -- Ordnance Survey has unveiled an incredibly detailed and accurate 3D map of the English seaside resort of Bournemouth. Ordnance Survey (OS) captured every square metre of the town centre using a combination of land based laser scanning - including the world’s most accurate mobile mapping system StreetMapper 360, and aerial laser surveying. Created from 700 million individual laser point measurements, the 3D map could represent the future of mapping and illustrates how the work of the national mapping agency could change with the adoption of laser scanning technology.

“Three-dimensional maps in themselves aren't new, but what we've achieved in Bournemouth is a level of accuracy and detail that's never been done before. This combination of technology, including the contribution from StreetMapper, could change the way we map the country and also have a massive impact on things like personal navigation, tourism, the planning processes and town centre management as well as aiding aiding architects and the emergency and security services, ” commented Glen Hart, Head of Research at Ordnance Survey.

StreetMapper 360, which is a joint development between 3D Laser Mapping and German guidance and navigation specialist IGI, has been specifically designed for the rapid 3D mapping of highways, runways, railways, infrastructure and buildings. Using vehicle-mounted lasers offering a 360-degree field of view StreetMapper enables high precision mapping to a range of 300 metres, a capacity of 300,000 measurements per second per sensor and recorded accuracies in independent real world projects of better than 10 millimetres. Travelling at speeds of up to 70 kmph StreetMapper can capture every detail along the highway corridor including barriers, gulleys, overhead wires and building facades, helping surveyors to create highly accurate 3D computer models for planning, maintenance and incident management.

“The inclusion of StreetMapper data within this project is a tremendous accolade,” commented Dr Graham Hunter, Managing Director of Nottingham based 3D Laser Mapping. “It reinforces StreetMapper’s position at forefront of mobile mapping and builds on the successes to date achieving sub centimetre accurate measurements in real world projects around the globe.”

Ordnance Survey already maintains the most widely used mapping in Britain, OS MasterMap, through a combination of GPS ground survey and high-quality aerial photography. It makes on average 5,000 changes a day to that database, but it remains a two-dimensional representation. OS says that it will be continuing with trials to help perfect the technology, but detailed mapping in three dimensions could be a reality within the next five years.

Contact Dr Graham Hunter, 3D Laser Mapping Ltd, Email Contact
tel: +44 (0) 870 442 9400, www.3dlasermapping.com