Geotagged Photos Help Prioritize Oil Spill Response in Gulf

THORNTON, Colo.--(Business Wire)--
Thousands of GPS-stamped photos showing the locations of sensitive habitats and
wildlife impacted by the oil spill in the Gulf have helped decision makers
determine where to deploy clean-up crews. These `geotagged` photos are served
out via the web to multiple Emergency Operations Centers (EOC) using
photo-mapping software from GeoSpatial Experts LLC, as well as geographic
information system (GIS) technology.

Emergency response personnel are using a variety of GPS-enabled digital cameras,
like the Ricoh 500SE, to photograph natural areas impacted by the spill. Photos
have even been taken by concerned citizens equipped with GPS-enabled cell phone
cameras. The photos are uploaded to a map-based website to keep decision makers
informed throughout the Gulf of Mexico region.

The ESRI map server website uses GPS-Photo Link, a photo-mapping software
solution developed by GeoSpatial Experts of Thornton, Colo. This software, which
is capable of handling photos from nearly any digital camera and GPS receiver
regardless of whether the two devices are directly integrated, automatically
correlates the photographs with their GPS location coordinates. The software
then outputs the merged information as a map layer in the GIS. The onscreen map
icons, which denote the location of each photo, can be clicked to view the full
photographic image.

"The GIS map server enables decision makers to visualize oil inundation trends
along the coast by seeing the worst instances of beach and wildlife exposure to
the oil," said Tom Patterson of ESRI Inc., in Redlands, Calif.

Officials in the Gulf Region have published the geotagged photos on several map
servers including the Virtual USA site operated by the Department of Homeland
Security.

GeoSpatial Experts President Rick Bobbitt confirmed that disaster response is a
growing application for geotagged photographs and photo-mapping software. The
firm`s GPS-Photo Link package, which was the first photo-mapping software when
it was introduced in 2001, has been integrated into the curriculum at the
National Spill Control School in Texas.

GPS-Photo Link software has been used extensively throughout the Gulf clean-up
efforts by a variety of private-sector companies and government agencies.
Florida Fish & Wildlife personnel were among those who used GPS-enabled cameras
to collect photos of the slick from aircraft over the Gulf.

"Geotagged photos are ideal for documenting rapidly changing conditions relating
to a flood, fire or spill," said Bobbitt. "In minutes, the photos can be emailed
to an EOC, processed in GPS-Photo Link, and output to a web-accessible GIS
viewer like ArcView or online mapping site, such as Google Earth or Bing Maps."

Geotagged photos have become so popular for visually gathering geographic
information in business and governmental applications that photographic
equipment manufacturers Ricoh, Nikon and Sony as well as some cell phone
developers have introduced cameras with integrated GPS. GeoSpatial Experts has
bundled its GPS-Photo Link software with a variety of these products, Bobbitt
said.

GeoSpatial Experts
Stephanie Giard, 1-303-255-2908
www.geospatialexperts.com

Copyright Business Wire 2010