This past year certainly had its challenges, especially for healthcare and small businesses, especially restaurants and small boutique shops. Our hearts go out to those and to all who have suffered throughout this pandemic. Here at Geographic Techniques, we faired well since most of our work involved less socially dependent settings like flying drones, field mapping, and making maps from our home office confinement. And meetings we had were all held virtually.
This year we spent several months drone mapping a solar farm under construction in southwest Wisconsin, several residential and commercial properties, and an agricultural site. In fact, we flew over 10,000 acres since last March, and will continue to fly smaller jobs during the upcoming winter months. From our home office, we created maps of Native American effigy mounds, ancient earthworks sites, hiking trails, and conservation parks.
Above: Drone derived imagery of a Madison, WI construction site (orthomosaic, left, digital terrain model, right).
Looking ahead to 2021
More drone mapping, more field work, and more cartographic creativity are what we seek. As COVID-19 vaccinations ramp up and communities heed social distancing and protection measures, the need for more mapping projects will increase. And we are here to help.
Besides continuing with our drone related and client requested mapping projects, we will be looking to sell some of our own cartographic creations online, as we once did in years past. We will offer old favorites and new designs. With that being said, we would like to do something fun and ask YOU to suggest a map that you might like to see. It could be a map of a park, or your favorite commute, a vacation site, or, perhaps, something of vital importance. Of course, we cannot guarantee that your map will get created, but then you never know! Look for a link to our map store early next year.
Here's to your health and a very happy and prosperous New Year! Let's map!