After years of development, the use of geospatial technology is exploding in the government. And while it may feel like only yesterday that geospatial applications were only used by GIS specialists, now un-trained users, can access geographic information systems via the Internet and mobile technologies. Recent years saw the rise of geospatial imagery and analytical tools via the cloud.

Acronym and DLT Solutions recently hosted a webinar with Dan Whalen from Lockheed Martin on their Intelligence on Demand (IoD) solution. One of the key takeaways of the webinar answered the question as to why oblique imagery is more useful and actionable than orthogonal imagery. If you’re not already familiar, orthogonal images are straight-down shots of buildings and points of interest from a long range satellite orbiting the earth. Oblique images on the other hand, like those provided by IoD, are taken at a 40 degree angle from a low flying aircraft equipped with a five camera system that rapidly captures images from all cardinal directions. This provides a much clearer and identifiable image.

No technology has given us such a literal insight into the world around us than satellite imagery – from our everyday use of Google Maps to more serious applications in the local and national security community. This top down view of the world, combined with actionable data about the terrain, buildings and even persons on the ground, has transformed how emergency responders, law enforcement officials, and others in the security arena act on intelligence, plan and prepare for potential scenarios and adjust tactics from the field. However – traditional geospatial imagery and information has its limits. Say, for example you are a law enforcement official in Arlington, Virginia. While your geospatial app can give you a great view of the roof of a potential suspect’s apartment block, and probably also tell you which apartment your suspect lives in. What if you could use the power of multiple, yet integrated viewpoints, to measure the perimeter of the block, gauge the best surveillance points based on a clear line of sight, plan ingress and egress points, and share this information in pre-raid briefings. Imagine the time saved during the initial “Time on Target”?

The blog entry below contains excerpts from ‘Putting Virtual “Boots on the Ground” – Law Enforcement Gets Intelligence on Demand,’ originally written by Caron Beesley and published on

If you are a law enforcement official, you’ll understand the power of geospatial imagery as an essential enabler of location and terrain intelligence gathering. But while traditional satellite imagery and GIS systems provide invaluable situational awareness capabilities, they don’t always provide all the answers. For one, traditional geospatial imagery is orthogonal, i.e. “a top down view”, which flattens the landscape and gives no perspective, making it tricky to gain a true representation of terrain or buildings – after all it’s hard to pre-plan a mission or understand potential risk factors about a structure or location when all you see is an anonymous tiled roof and vague perimeter.