Video Shows How GIC Imagery is Transforming Catastrophe Response

Images Available to Emergency Personnel, Insurers and the Public

DES PLAINES, Ill., Nov. 5, 2018 — Technology provided by the Geospatial Intelligence Center (GIC) following Hurricanes Florence and Michael gave the National Insurance Crime Bureau’s (NICB) member companies access to ultra-high resolution images of the devastation to help enhance insurers’ efforts to respond to their impacted customers.

The efforts of the GIC are documented in this video produced by the NICB.

The GIC imagery was collected by a fleet of airplanes, each equipped with a $1.5 million Vexcel Imaging sensor. The planes were in the air as soon a weather permitted after the hurricanes providing images and data to GIC member companies within 24-36 hours of the flights. 

This provides insurers with vital information that helps them respond and pay claims faster to help victims get on the road to recovery. The imagery is also provided at no charge to emergency personnel, first responders and law enforcement to assist in their response to the damage.

The public can also view before and after images of impacted areas on an address-by-address basis.

The GIC has also mapped the areas hardest hit by previous hurricanes and disasters and those views are also available. This effort is part of the massive data collection and processing system spearheaded by the NICB whose member companies write almost 80 percent of all property/casualty insurance and over 94 percent of all auto insurance in the country. 

On a regular basis, the GIC is in the process of collecting high-resolution “before” benchmark imagery on the ground and in the air in some 100 markets. Through a network of aviation companies, the GIC is prepared to reach any disaster area in the U.S. within two hours and can begin imagery collection as soon as it is safe to fly and skies have cleared.

About Vexcel Imaging: 
Based in Centennial, CO, Vexcel Imaging Inc. is a leading provider of geospatial data and services and mapping products. The Vexcel Data Program powers the GIC, providing high-resolution vertical and oblique aerial data along with derivative data products that include high-density point clouds, digital surface and terrain models, orthomosaics, and 3D TINS. It’s portfolio of sensor systems consists of the industry-leading line of UltraCam digital aerial and terrestrial camera systems widely adopted by aerial mapping firms worldwide and underpinning the Vexcel Data Program and GIC. The portfolio includes a range of imaging systems including photogrammetric vertical camera systems, combined nadir and oblique image capture systems, and high-altitude wide-area mapping systems. For terrestrial collection, the car-based mobile mapping system UltraCam Mustang captures a street-level perspective, and the UltraCam Panther collects high-resolution imagery, video and LiDAR via a portable 3D reality mapping system. These systems, coupled with the UltraMap workflow software, offer geospatial data organizations and geospatial data users with highly accurate but cost-effect vertical, oblique and street level data.