About Us
Company History
In the early 1990s, the co-founders of Airborne Data Systems, Inc. (ADS) set out to develop a digital imaging system capable of operating efficiently from an aircraft. The company completed the first working prototype system in 1994 in a joint effort with scientists at South Dakota State University in Brookings, South Dakota. Over the course of the succeeding decade, research and development work on the system continued, resulting in today's Spectra-View product line of multiple camera, multi-spectral, digital imaging systems. ADS believes that its Spectra-View system is the most adaptable system in the industry today. It generates a superior data set and has the ability to deliver that data set far more rapidly than any of its competitors.
As a natural by-product of the Spectra-View technology, ADS has also developed the Agri-View and the Recon-View product line. The Agri-View is a three-band camera system designed to provide affordable crop and soil data to the agricultural market. The Recon-View is an ultra-high resolution gimbaled reconnaissance camera system.
Products
ADS manufactures digital imaging systems specifically designed for high speed, high precision image collection in various defense and civilian applications. These products offer highly adaptable digital imaging with superior data sets, as well as the fastest data delivery rates of any system on the market. All systems are USAF RF/EMI (Radio Frequency/Electromagnetic Interference) certified. ADS camera systems have been deployed in a variety of imaging applications, including environmental, agricultural, forestry, mapping, and international law enforcement.
The core technology consists of:
- An onboard DC powered image management and storage processor
- A camera deck
- An Inertial Navigation System (INS)
- Calibration solutions
These components are all integrated into a modular format.
The design components and integration of this core technology allows ADS to take advantage of 17 years of experience with camera technology without having to continually redesign and update the individual cameras and camera systems.
The benefits of ADS proprietary software and imaging technology are:
- Precision
- Processing speed
- Integrated geo-referencing
- Ortho-rectified imagery at 15 cm resolution from aircraft traveling at speeds up to 200 knots
- The ability to generate geo-referenced maps at a rate of thirty seconds per scene
- The capability to handle up to eight Bands of data with spectral response from ultraviolet to long wave infrared
Technical camera system specifications are available in multiple locations on this website.