Aerial imagery data unlocked

Land Information Minister Maurice Williamson today announced that 85 per cent of New Zealand’s most current publicly held aerial imagery data has been opened up for public re-use.

LINZ, as the steward of imagery, has been working with other agencies since 2011 to make available such data under open licence.

“Until recently, only six per cent of New Zealand’s land area imagery was available publicly, and most government-held imagery was stored on internal systems.

“This made imagery data difficult to find and access - even when needed for nationally significant projects such as the Canterbury rebuild.

“Unlocking aerial imagery under open licence will lead to time and cost savings, and helps deliver on the Government objective to have all public sector agencies releasing high value public data for re-use.

LINZ is intending to launch an online service in 2014 to provide improved access to the public sector’s imagery data,” Mr Williamson says.

Aerial imagery is a key piece of location-based information, and opening access to such information is central to the goals of the New Zealand Geospatial Strategy.

It’s captured from satellites, airborne sensors and cameras. Aerial imagery provides an accurate photographic representation of the earth’s surface and the features on it, at a snap shot in time. It can be used to visualise landscape, or to understand how an area has evolved over time.

“Work by LINZ to make available even more aerial imagery will continue.”

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