STREAMLINED
SOLUTIONS
Unique WROC program offers collaborative,
cost-effective approach toward data collection
By Jennifer Schmidt
L
ittle do most people realize, but accurate, comprehensive geospatial data is
critical for everything from emergency preparedness to property assessment.
The newly collected orthophotography and recently acquired LiDAR (light
detection and ranging) technology in Polk County, Wisconsin, for example, will
soon be used to enhance zoning and floodplain data, update parcel maps, assist
with address inventory, and more.
The data – so precise and so detailed – is more than Sara McCurdy ever
imagined she’d see. But it all became possible through the County’s participation
in the Wisconsin Regional Orthophotography Consortium.
“Honestly, we thought LiDAR technology was kind of a pipe dream in Polk
County just due to the expense,” said McCurdy, Polk County’s land information
director. “Jumping into the WROC program really gave us an affordable option to
dream big and to go out and get that technology.”
The multi-entity Wisconsin Regional Orthophotography Consortium, which
Ayres Associates designs and manages, allows Polk County and other agencies
involved in the program an efficient and collaborative means of collecting and
sharing important imagery, elevation, and
mapping data. (Ayres’ teaming partner, Quantum
Spatial, completes the aerial imagery and LiDAR
flights).
Before joining the consortium in 2009, Polk
County took on the responsibility of acquiring
their own imagery through a standard Request
for Proposal process. Now that they’ve joined
WROC, though, they can share the cost with other
participating entities that can also use the data.
Operating in five-year cycles, WROC 2015 is
now in its fifth rotation and has increased participation, streamlined its processes,
and expanded the amount of digital orthophotography and elevation data gleaned
with each passing cycle. Participation has grown from seven entities in 1995 to 78
in 2015 – touching every corner of the state and allowing for an unprecedented
amount of available data. The WROC team, along with its members and partners,
acquired nearly 45,000 square miles of high-resolution orthoimagery and over
15,000 square miles of LiDAR throughout the state in the 2014-15 flying season.
TRENDS
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