By Ismail Turay Jr. Staff Writer
Dayton Daily News (Ohio)
Copyright 2007 Dayton Newspapers, Inc.
XENIA, Ohio — Officials in four counties, including Greene, are salivating over a new computer program that will provide detailed 3-D images of an entire county.
Each government agency will benefit from the Pictometry Visual Intelligence program, Greene County Sheriff Gene Fischer said, adding that it will allow emergency workers to identify homes much easier.
In the case of firefighters, the program will make it easier for them to locate the nearest fire hydrant and measure the amount of hose and ladder they will need before arriving on a scene.
Also, it will allow dispatchers to look at a structure on a computer screen and give police officers detailed descriptions if the home does not have a number.
Additionally, after natural disasters, Pictometry images will allow officials to get better damage assessments by looking at before and after pictures of the affected area, the sheriff said.
The program could even be useful to Greene County Auditor Luwanna Delaney, who is required to record images of properties in the county every few years.
It will be an enhancement, but not a replacement, for the Geographic Information System, which provides information about every structure in the county, Delaney said.
Unlike the Pictometry software, GIS does not display all angles of a structure.
"It could be cost-saving in the future if we find that this is successful because we will have only one company to do one flyover instead of two," she said.
An airplane that flies over the city captures the Pictometry images of every structure, road and the like in the county.
The images are updated every two years.
The program is expected to be in place by this summer, officials said.
A nearly $100,000 federal grant will pay for the Pictometry software in each of the four counties - Greene, Fayette, Pickaway and Clark - that are involved.
The cost of the flyovers has not been determined, Fischer said.
"I think there are some concerns about big brother watching," Fischer said.
"But there is nothing live to this program. It won't allow us to read license plates or see what people are doing in their homes."
