Press Releases
LizardTech’s MrSID Generation 3 Format Named Standard by the National Agriculture Imagery Program
USDA Requires All Compressed County Aerial Image Mosaics to be Delivered in MrSID Generation 3 Format
SEATTLE, Wash. – April 12, 2005 - LizardTech, Inc., a leading provider of software solutions that make it significantly easier to manage and distribute digital content, today announced that the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), Farm Service Agency (FSA) has named MrSID Generation 3 image format as the standard to be used for all 2005 Compressed County Mosaics (CCM).
Last year, the USDA FSA Aerial Photography Field Office (APFO) issued a baseline contract for aerial imagery as part of the National Agriculture Imagery Program. One of the deliverables in the Program was a Compressed County Mosaic, which was required in MrSID generation 2 Format. This year USDA has modified the Contract to require that all CCMs be delivered in MrSID generation 3 Format.
USDA FSA makes CCMs available to the public for a nominal fee. Imagery is acquired on an annual basis to support the USDA’s crop and commodity programs and must be acquired between May and the end of September 2005. The mosaics are delivered in UTM coordinate systems compressed to MrSID generation 3 format (MG3). Customers using it will benefit from the new flexibility that MG3 offers over any other compressed image format due to the ability to reproject and compress the images at differing compression ratios within the same mosaic. These features will allow broader use of the imagery by users who work in State Plane coordinate systems and those with limited bandwidth.
“We did extensive due diligence and decided that the time was right to move to MrSID generation 3 format. We like the much greater flexibility and functionality it provides in terms of managing and using NAIP imagery,” said Kent Williams, NAIP Program Coordinator.
MrSID (Multiresolution Seamless Image Database) is a powerful wavelet-based image encoder, optimizer, viewer and file format designed specifically for GIS professionals for true portability of massive images. MrSID technology is the most widely accepted geospatial image format that produces dramatically smaller image files without compromising the quality of the original image allowing for more detailed analysis. Geospatial professionals within government agencies rely on LizardTech’s GeoExpress 5.0 with MrSID for crucial decision making such as land planning, tax assessment and national security when in need of rapid access to massive imagery from anywhere in the world.
About USDA FSA
Stabilizing farm income, helping farmers conserve land and water resources, providing credit to new or disadvantaged farmers and ranchers, and helping farm operations recover from the effects of disaster are the missions of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Farm Service Agency (FSA).
FSA was set up when the Department was reorganized in 1994, incorporating programs from several agencies, including the Agricultural Stabilization and Conservation Service, the Federal Crop Insurance Corporation (now a separate Risk Management Agency), and the Farmers Home Administration. Though its name has changed over the years, the Agency’s relationship with farmers goes back to the 1930s.
At that time, Congress set up a unique system under which Federal farm programs are administered locally. Farmers who are eligible to participate in these programs elect a three- to five-person county committee, which reviews county office operations and makes decisions on how to apply the programs. This grassroots approach gives farmers a much-needed say in how Federal actions affect their communities and their individual operations. After more than 60 years, it remains a cornerstone of FSA’s efforts to preserve and promote American agriculture.
About LizardTech
Since 1992, LizardTech has delivered state-of-the-art software products for managing and distributing massive, high-resolution geospatial data such as aerial and satellite imagery and LiDAR data. LizardTech pioneered the MrSID technology, a powerful wavelet-based image encoder, viewer, and file format. LizardTech has offices in Seattle, Denver, London and Tokyo. For more information about LizardTech, visit www.lizardtech.com.
About Celartem
Celartem Technology Inc. http://www.celartem.com develops and sells innovative technologies for storage, access and distribution of rich media content. Celartem has developed technology in the areas of digital image compression, scalable image viewing and secure content distribution and management. Celartem is listed on the Osaka Securities Exchange, JASDAQ: 4330. Established in 1996, Celartem is headquartered in Tokyo, Japan and has a wholly owned subsidiary, Celartem Inc. d.b.a. LizardTech with headquarters in Portland, OR.
