Satellite images help build land record systems in Third World

By Kenneth V. Smith

The old maxim in real estate about "location, location, location" will soon have a space age spin with high resolution photography taken 400 miles above the Earth's surface.

While the first satellite photos in real estate are expected to be in the fields of multiple listing systems and tax assessor maps, the technology also has potential in under-developed countries. In many parts of the world, satellite photos will be provide the most accurate foundation in developing land record systems.

Space Imaging, Inc., headquartered in Colorado, is scheduled to launch a satellite late this year that will provide one-meter resolution photos, and marketing plans are being developed to link these images to real estate multiple listing systems, property tax rolls, and community master plans. The satellite will be the first such commercial application for space photos linked to land records and maps.

"We've identified a gap in format between cadastral mapping and national mapping," said Joe Thurgood, Space Imaging's director of international business development. "The cadastre may be highly accurate, but it is a single-purpose map which only records parcel boundaries. It doesn't contain important elements like public buildings, vegetation, rivers, hydrology and other components critical to using maps to their full capacity," he said.

"The need is particularly great in regions around the world where a requirement exists for highly accurate parcel maps without the hundreds of man-years of effort traditionally necessary for precise surveying and plotting of ownership," Thurgood said.

"Particularly in countries emerging from central control and moving towards private ownership, such as in the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, there is a vital need for a definitive and rapid solution to determining land ownership."

Space Imaging clearly expects real estate sales and marketing to be a significant portion of its business. The company's Web site has a demonstration of how digital photographs from space could be linked to an MLS.

Some new terminology and concepts are, but Space Imaging is banking that satellite photography will immediately make good sense and will revolutionize existing systems for real estate sales, mapping, property taxation and planning.

One meter resolution means that each pixel on a computer monitor represents one meter (slightly more than three feet) of the Earth's surface. Until now, such photography has been possible only through more expensive aerial photography.

"So, any object that is greater than one meter will be picked up in our satellite photo," said Ron Elsis, consumer products marketing manager for Space Imaging. "What this means is that you can't read the license plate on a car, but you can see the windshield on that car. At one meter resolution, you can clearly see the definition of a house, backyard pools, trees, and different types of vegetation."

For land records systems, Space Imaging believes cadastral mapping is an example of a market that could benefit from satellite photography. Cadastral mapping is a method initially developed in Europe for surveying and legally recording land parcel information.

Cadastral mapping takes many forms around the world, based on current and historic land registry, land reform policy and available funding. The required accuracy depends mainly on the value of the land, but is also affected by the level of current information and the speed with which a comprehensive cadastre can be generated.

"We see a lot of money in the real estate market," Elsis said. "It's just a matter of putting the right system together and then I think the imagery will enhance the vector data (parcel) maps and if you integrate those with satellite imagery you get a really good product - something a Realtor and prospective buyer or seller could really sink their teeth into. You will be to see all of the good - and the bad - of a neighborhood."

This technology has existed for years, but has been used exclusively by governments. Commercial applications became possible in 1994 when President Clinton signed a directive to commercialize the satellite photography industry. Space Imaging, a privately held company, was founded soon after and has since gained major financial support from Lockheed Martin Corp. and E-Systems, Inc., a Raytheon company.

Space Imaging has announced plans to operate a constellation of satellites that will produce global imagery and earth information products. The first satellite to capture one-meter ground resolution images is scheduled for a December 1997 launch from California's Vandenberg Air Force Base.

Although the satellite launching is nearly a year away, Elsis said he is negotiating with MLS software vendors, nsurance companies, utility companies, and agencies of state, county and city governments. He said Space Imaging has a contract with Jefferson County, Colorado, to provide photos to be used for real property tax assessment and community planning.

"For Jefferson County, we will fly the area now and take aerial photographs which will be updated later on with images from our satellite," Elsis said. "We're also talking with several counties in South Florida about similar projects."

Most counties throughout the United States still work from parcel maps drawn on paper, but there is an accelerating trend to put these maps in a digital form called "vector maps." Once this is done, it will be possible to overlay computerized images of property lot lines with satellite photos, combined with a property characteristics database, then extract previously difficult to obtain information.

A space image map, combining photos and a line map, could be been color-coded to demonstrate the actual use of the land as contrasted with how the land has been zoned, Elsis said. This information, obtained by querying a city database to determine land use classification, would be useful for local governments planning for future growth needs, such as infrastructure. The system could also be used by assessors to insure that properties were properly taxed.

In addition to real estate sales, the combination of satellite photos and land records will be used by insurance companies to assess damages in disasters such as earthquakes, tornadoes and hurricanes. Because the satellite will be able to photograph any spot on Earth every three days, an insurance company would be able to quickly determine which property owners were struck most severely.