GISCafe Industry Predictions for 2024 – Surdex Corp

By Mark Zeman, Marketing Manager,  Surdex Corporation

Mark Zeman

Surdex has seen a moderate yet notable shift in market demand that indicates a trend in future buying of geospatial products. It is clear that the overall drive for efficiency in data collection and processing is driving more refined products.

• Growth in Elevation-Derived Hydrography (EDH). Fueled by the USGS 3D National Hydrography Program (3DHP), EDH has seen a significant increase in volume as part of the USGS Geospatial Products and Services Contracts (GPSC4). The implementation of 3DHP marks the start of a new era of water data – the first systematic remapping of the nation’s hydrography.  We anticipate significant demand and growth in production through 2024 and beyond.
• Increase in image resolution. The history of aerial photography has been one of progressive demand for increased resolution. Over the past decade, the base product, in general, has been 12” GSD for rural areas and 6” GSD for urban areas, and 3” GSD was generally only considered for small important areas of interest such as airports. As competition has driven the industry to develop increasingly more cost-efficient acquisition processes, Surdex has seen a gradual yet progressive interest, a shift from 12” to 6” GSD for more rural areas and from 6” to 3” GSD for urban areas, particularly in larger cities. We envision this trend will continue and become the new standard.

• Similarly, the demand for increased point density of lidar continues. In the past, many projects were 1-2 ppsm, but over the past several years, 4-6 ppsm is the new norm, and some projects are as high as 8-10 ppsm. The USGS 3D Elevation Program (3DEP) has also seen a gradual increase in demand for QL1 lidar data vs. QL2 lidar data. And of course, certain applications require significantly higher point density.
• Continued preference for unrestricted, unlicensed imagery. While some providers have developed licensed imagery / data products via their content programs, the clear preference (and often mandate) for Federal and most state entities continues to be for unrestricted, unlicensed imagery; this is flown to spec and customized to the users’ needs, and there are no limitations on the data’s use or distribution. Smaller municipalities and counties may, driven by limited budgets, select licensed data, but we envision that for the most part, unlicensed data will continue to be the preference of geospatial users.
• Expansion of collection of topo-bathymetric lidar. There has been a noted increase in the collection of both inland bodies of water and coastal areas, primarily fueled by state and federal money. The USGS GPSC4 have seen an increasing amount of topo-bathymetric lidar task orders.  We envision this trend will continue.
• Likely increase in disaster response mapping. The Federal government guided by scientists and climatologists predicts a progressive increase in the unpredictability of weather and water, with increases in flooding and drought. In light of this, we envision an increased need for geospatial data for construction of water management features such as levees as well as for disaster recovery, rescue, change detection (using pre- and post-event data) and insurance purposes.

Surdex is a top geospatial data provider, serving federal, state, county and municipal governments as well as private engineering companies. We provide premium quality geospatial products, an exceptionally high client acceptance rate, 98% on-time delivery, and an ease of doing business.

Category: GIS Industry Predictios

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