Oct 26, 2020 3 min read

Greene County officials have announced that an aerial project is underway in the area, enabling a contracted company to obtain data and updated aerial imagery that will be used for various county departments.

Greene commissioners said a recently approved contract with Eagleview Technologies and Pictometry International is allowing the companies to provide updated LiDAR (light detection and ranging) data and high-resolution imagery of the county.

The LiDAR data – which incorporates a remote sensing method that uses light in the form of a pulsed laser to measure ranges (variable distances) to the earth – was recently collected by airplane, and the aerial images will be collected during the last half of November, again by plane.

Commissioner Mike Belding said residents may very well see these flights as the planes will collect elevation data and pictures “from the Monongahela River to our western border with West Virginia and from Washington County to our southern border with West Virginia, going back and forth across the county dozens of times.”

The data allows users to annotate and compare year-over-year images and is used in county offices for many purposes, including assessment for appraisal information; for crime scene analysis and distance to schools in drug-related cases; information technology for the county wireless network; emergency management and the 911 Center for emergency service response; and for residential, commercial and industrial site information for development purposes and blighted property identification.

Belding added that the county is also planning new uses for the data, to include the upcoming tax claim office judicial and repository sale, to help potential buyers identify properties of interest.

LiDAR data collection has not been performed in the area since 2006. The new imagery and elevation data will be added to the County Pictometry Connect web application, in conjunction with county GIS layers such as parcels, streets, municipal boundaries, structures, streams, watershed, waterline and sewage line layers that can be used remotely by the county, townships, boroughs, water and sewer authorities, school districts, sewage enforcement officers, tax collectors and the engineers of those organizations.

Belding stressed that the county’s agreement with Pictometry prohibits the use of the county data by individuals or businesses that are not employed by, or part of, a subdivision of the county.

The project is funded by Federal CARES Act funds provided to the county through the state. “The project must be COVID-response related, the use cannot be budgeted in the current year budget, and the funding must be spent by Dec. 30,” the release states.

Additional information regarding the ongoing aerial project can be obtained on the Greene County commissioners’ Facebook page or by calling the commissioners’ office at 724-852-5210.