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Kingwood Forestry Services is a full service forestry consulting
firm with extensive experience in providing leading-edge resource
management services for the forest industry. Headquartered in
Monticello, Arkansas, the company’s broad-based expertise lies in
the management of private non-industrial forests, from planning
and maintenance to value assessment and sales. With a team of
highly-skilled professionals, Kingwood Forestry has maintained its
position at the forefront of the industry by providing innovative
solutions using the most efficient and effective technology.
In the past ten years the forest industry in the United States
has seen many advances in information technology, and the
environmental and commercial benefits these developments can
bring. These include accurate and affordable Global Positioning
Systems (GPS), hand held data recorders and associated
software, and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) that are
now even more user-friendly.
Kingwood had seen a corresponding shift in the technological
sophistication of its client-base as well as their project
requirements for aerial imagery, which included improvements
in image quality, positional accuracy, and rapid data
turnaround.
Remote sensing airborne survey
“With the ability to optimize air-time,
and the greater operational window
available with a digital system, we have
broadened our capabilities to include
time-dependent projects, such as those
posed by the agricultural sector.”
Glen Dabney Kingwood Forestry
Kingwood had been generating orthorectified mosaics and orthoquads for forest resource management purposes, using a standard film-based methodology. The medium-format film cameras used generated an excellent product, but the imagery was subject to the delays and quality control issues associated with film processing, scanning and image orthorectification. Glen Dabney, President of Kingwood Forestry, began an exhaustive search for a digital system that would best suit his organization’s needs, and address those of his customers.
The solution came with the acquisition of the
DSS system, which had an almost immediate
impact on Kingwood’s business, due to its
efficient all-digital approach to data acquisition
and handling. Generating directly georeferenced
and radiometrically consistent image products
was now possible with opportunities for both
wide-area coverage and color/CIR options using
35mm and 55mm lenses.
By tailoring the functionality of the system to
suit their clients’ particular project requirements,
Kingwood’s workload increased dramatically. “With the ability to optimize air-time, and
the greater operational window available
with a digital system, we have broadened our
capabilities to include time-dependent projects,
such as those posed by the agricultural sector,”
Glen Dabney commented. “However, the most
significant attribute has been the availability of
excellent customer support. There is always an
experienced Applanix person we can contact
for technical assistance, regardless of whether
it is hardware or software related. If it requires
an on-site visit, a complete re-installation, or
just an over-the-phone answer to a processing
problem, the response is tremendous. When
integrating a new technology into a fully
operational business, there is always some
trepidation. When we introduced
the DSS we expected compatibility and
a smooth transition - Applanix provided it,
without question.”
