In the spring of 2005 the Joint Research Center (JRC) of the European Union approached Aerodata for an independent geometric quality control of the Vexcel UltraCam-D digital photogrammetric camera. For this purpose a survey area was defined in Maussane-les-Alpilles (France).

On May 25th of 2005 the aerial data acquisition at 50cm GSD was completed. The imagery was quality checked for further use and processed into an orthophoto mosaic that was delivered to the JRC.

The final evaluation was that both Aerodata and their Vexcel UltraCam-D had performed well as stated in the conclusion of the JRC:
“The geometric quality of the ortho-rectified Ultracam-D image executed and processed by Aerodata meets well our specifications. We can state that an RMSE (1D) of 1 pixel is state of the art for such type of camera. This result exceeds performance normally expected from best practice using film.”

Operating the digital photogrammetric camera thus means further improvements in capturing imagery for use within the Common Agricultural Policy projects.
As part of the publication of their conclusion, the JRC has made a poster with visuals from the project as well as summaries of the findings. It was shown at the 11th Annual Conference on Control with Remote Sensing of Area-based Subsidies on 23-25 November 2005 in Krakow Poland.