About KiwImage
In 2004 the Officials Committee on Geospatial Information (OCGI) set up a subcommittee of a group of agencies to see if there were benefits to be gained by an All of Government purchase of aerial imagery. Key points were that the imagery had to be available to any central or local government agency and that the Crown was to be the custodian of the data.
The imagery is captured by DigitalGlobe using the Quickbird II satellite and supplied to the NZDF from SKM in Melbourne. Other sources of imagery come from Local Government. Existing high resolution imagery can be added to the KiwImage data set from project members, which will then become available to all of the KiwImage project members.
Project members can have access to 3 products:
Product 1 – Bundle
The Bundle product is 2.4m resolution multispectral, 16bit Red Green Blue & Near Infrared (RGBNI), and 0.6m resolution, 16bit panchromatic. The products are orthorectified to an accuracy of +/-2.6m.
This product would be suitable for the user that wishes to do analysis on imagery that is spatially correct.
Product 2 – Pansharpened
The Pansharpened product is 0.6m resolution, natural colour 8bit RGB imagery, which is orthorectified and mosaiced to an accuracy of +/- 2.6m.
This product is commonly used in GIS.
Product 3 – Basic (Raw imagery)
The Basic product is 2.4m resolution multispectral, 16bit Red Green Blue & Near Inferred (RGBI), and 0.6m resolution Panchromatic. No correction is applied.
This product would be suitable for the user that wishes to do analysis on the imagery before the imagery has been altered due to processing.
The scope of KiwImage is to capture full coverage of New Zealand and Offshore Islands. When this is complete any additional funds will be used to up date old, cloud covered, or out of spec imagery. There also may be scope to capture the SW Pacific Islands and Ross Dependency.
The project is club funded, therefore imagery can only be purchased with funds that are contributed by the project members. NZDF are the custodians of the imagery, administering the project and disseminating the data to the project members.
The KiwImage Governance Board (KIGB) is made up from various agencies including NZDF, NZ Fire Service, Land Information NZ, & Wellington City Council. The KIGB meet approximately every 3-4 months, and provide direction for the project.
The cost benefit to Government is enormous. In the first two years that KiwImage has been in operation we have purchased approximately 45,000km² of imagery of New Zealand & Offshore Islands. There are significant savings due to KiwImage purchasing imagery on an All of Government licence. This results in agencies that could normally not justify the cost of purchasing imagery individually at commercial rates, having access to a large resource of satellite imagery.
Under the current MOU the KiwImage project will finish in 2012. If you would like further information regarding the KiwImage project, please see the FAQ section, or contact the KiwImage Administrator.
