Digital cameras have emerged rapidly in the professional surveying industry. Costs for film, development, time and then scanning have become a thing of the past.

The digital camera records using the usual channels, red, green and blue, to provide true colour information when combined. Simultaneously the camera records in black and white and colour infrared for special applications like analyses of vegetation and crop diversity.

They are equipped with virtually unlimited FMC (Forward Motion Compensation) which enables high resolution photography, down to 2,5 cm Ground Sample Distance (GSD), without any distortion due to movement at high and efficient flying speeds. The cameras are installed in a GSM3000 gyro-stabilized mount.

Using this type of camera has led to remarkable improvements of the final product with the 12-bit dynamic range enabling superior image purity, clarity, contrast and visibility of details in shadowed areas. Other great advantages are the absence of grain and dust particles and the ability to operate under low light conditions. All of this increases the time window for data acquisition considerably leading towards even higher success rates in data collection projects.

Aerodata uses different models of the Microsoft / Vexcel UltraCam digital frame cameras, including three of the latest Vexcel UltraCam-X Prime (UCXp) models.

The 196 megapixel UCXp cameras capture images of 17.310x11.310 pixels which makes it the most efficient airborne digital camera system in the world.

Aerodata's UltraCam-D digital camera is mainly used for capturing ultra-high resolution imagery in stereo because of its unparalleled short interval time between individual images.

For special purposes Aerodata operates a dual Rollei AIC camera system (AIC x2). This system is extremely useful in areas with heavy air traffic and wide ranging ATC restrictions.

Since this camera system is equipped with telephoto lenses, data collection can be executed at higher altitudes, while still maintaining high ground resolution in the imagery.

Thermal camera systems are derived from military sensors and can be used for civil applications like heat loss surveys in built up areas, monitoring of thermal discharges in open water and other environmental phenomena.

For heat loss surveys in cities the camera is flow at late evening or early morning times.Over the last few years Aerodata has built up extensive experience flying the FLIR HS 6000 SC in an aircraft. The camera can be deployed at various flying altitudes thus capturing images at for instance 50 resolution. Also this camera is equipped with an Applanix position and orientation system and all of the images are synchronously time-tagged. Aerodata developed a very efficient way to calibrate, geo-rectify and mosaic the individual images into a mosaic of the project areas.

Over the years Aerodata used different types of laser scanners, dedicated to the specific project needs. Aerodata's experience covers projects with Riegl LMS-Q560, Toposys Falcon, Leica ALS 50 and Optech ALTM 3100.

These scanners differ in technology, in laser pulse frequency, swath width and multiple return characteristics. Depending on the specific project need, any of the above systems can be made available.

The AISA Eagle is a fully integrated push-broom system capable of detecting data in the range of 400 – 970 nm with a spectral resolution of 2.9 nm. It can acquire any band combination ranging from a few spectral bands to full hyperspectral data sets of 244 of bands.

Typical ground resolutions vary from 0.5 m up to 5 m. it is used for environmental mapping and monitoring projects.

At all times the orientation and position parameters for each image are recorded during the flight.
In the year 2000 Aerodata Surveys was one of the first European companies buying the Applanix POS/AV 410 GPS/INS system, mounted on the ZEISS LMK200 camera. Meanwhile multiple POS/AV 510 systems are used with the various digital camera systems.