Aerial mapping company, Bluesky, has launched the first nationwide map providing accurate height measurement for around 40 million buildings across Britain.
Created from a combination of remote sensing surveys, including data from aircraft mounted lasers (LiDAR), the Bluesky Heighted Building dataset covers the whole of England, Wales and Scotland, and will help to change the way we visualise and understand the built environment.
By applying height values to 41,083,111 buildings, Bluesky is giving planners, developers, local government, utility companies and the emergency services a brand new perspective. Including multiple values for every residential, leisure, retail, commercial and industrial structure in mainland UK, the Bluesky Heighted Building dataset will provide new intelligence to underpin decision making and service delivery.
“By using a range of source data, including the most up to date LiDAR measurements, and complex data processing algorithms, we are able to apply the most accurate height measurement to each and every building polygon in the Ordnance Survey MasterMap layer. This is a first in terms of coverage,” commented James Eddy, Technical Director of Bluesky International.
Standard values contained within the Bluesky Heighted Building database include maximum height, minimum height, average mean height and average median height. The Bluesky Heighted Building dataset is based on and compatible with the Ordnance Survey’s MasterMap (OSMM) product range and, as Bluesky is an Ordnance Survey Licensed Partner, can be packaged with the original OSMM building polygons or, for existing OSMM licence holders, supplied as standalone attributes.
“We expect the Bluesky Heighted Building database to revolutionise a range of applications, including the planning and design of new developments, the delivery and maintenance of essential infrastructure services including transport and utilities, and the provision of emergency services,” continued Eddy.
The Bluesky Heighted Building database is currently available for offline sales and will shortly be available online at www.blueskymapshop.com, and complements other height products already on offer from Bluesky, including LiDAR and Photogrammetric Digital Terrain (bare earth) and Digital Surface (including buildings and trees) Models (DTM / DSM), contour, slope and aspect maps.
