AIAD - Federazione Aziende Italiane per L'Aereospazio, la Difesa e la Sicurezza

Geocart S.p.A. is an Engineering Company, a medium-sized enterprise based in Potenza (Italy) and set up in 1994, which provides technical services in the following fields: Earth Observation, Environment, Civil Protection, Energy, Information and Communication Technology, Civil Engineering.

Geocart offers services and provides products that respond to national and international advanced marketing needs and relevant challenges, designing and carrying out innovative solutions and tools for surveying the land and soil, monitoring the environment and detecting infrastructures anomalies.

The company’s activities focus on the design, production and maintenance of geographic databases. The company is active in satellite image processing and refining-modeling of geographic data coming from terrestrial and aerial mapping, using traditional and innovative techniques and instrumentation (GPS, laser scanner, photogrammetric cameras and sensors operating in different spectral bands), including the planning and development of Geographic Information Systems, cartographic editing and software solutions specifically developed on customers’ requirements.

Geocart is certified in compliance with UNI EN ISO 9001:2015 for the following purposes:

• Aerial and ground surveying and data processing services for the characterization, modelling and monitoring of infrastructures, civil works and cultural heritage, land and environment, aerial inspections of power lines.
• Research and development of integrated services, techniques and algorithms based on ground, aerial and satellite Earth Observations. Design and development of software, Artificial Intelligence applications, information systems and GIS.
• Design of power lines and electrical plants.

Specifically, Geocart provides aerial surveys for natural risks’ monitoring in order to support adequate prevention measures in order to reduce disastrous impacts of phenomena such as floods, landslides, sea storms or subsidence, as well as tosupport risk analysis such as risk scenarios assessment.

The aerial survey is carried out by means of multi-sensor airborne platforms, installed on helicopters or on fixed wings aircrafts, that may integrate, based on specific technical requirements, several and innovative sensors such as a full waveform laser scanner, a system of hyper-spectral sensors (VNIR, SWIR), a thermal camera and one or more high resolution digital cameras.

Acquired data are then processed by providing products such as 3D point clouds, DTMs and DSMs, orthophotos, digital cartography, vector models of infrastructures, thermograms, multispectral and hyperspectral images and, in case of power lines inspections, reports for the description and classification of the recorded anomalies (e.g., structural deformations of pylons, hot spots, catenary variation and conductor breakage, interference with buildings or tree interference, etc.).

Specifically, Geocart uses a new generation of LiDAR technology that, thanks to full waveform analysis, can easily penetrate into the vegetation providing Digital Terrain Models (DTMs) with a full and detailed land characterization, also in the presence of canopy. At the same time, the full waveform allows to generate highly detailed Digital Surface Models (DTMs) describing the soil surface as it appears (including the features of interest such as buildings or vegetation).

Furthermore, the company develops customized software solutions for management, display, navigation and query of data (such as point clouds, cartography and orthophotos), to which georeferenced multimedia files (video, IR video, photos, text, DB records) are linked in real-time.

Geocart ensures the quality control of all processes: from survey to final products, as well as the following data management. Besides, our technical experts usually provide training activities in order to support public or private institutions for data management and interpretation.

As far as the space sector is concerned, Geocart has gained experience and skills in the processing of multispectral and/or hyperspectral satellite data for the study of land use, land changes or evolutions (e.g., coastline, vegetation or forest cover, anthropized areas) or for the appraisal of qualitative indices for vegetation health assessment or other parameters related to the chemical and physical variations of environmental components. The company has also gained experience in the “PSInSAR” (Permanent Scatters Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar) technology for the assessment of earth shifts or structural displacements with centi-millimetric precision. With this aim, Geocart has developed a software application named “SLIDE”, which stands for SAR Land Interferometry Data Exploitation, which enables to measure surface and infrastructures displacements by adopting the PSInSAR technology. Since 2001, the company has been carrying out research and development projects in the satellite field, collaborating with research bodies, including the Italian Space Agency, the National Research Council, several Universities, as well as Italian and foreign companies specializing in the sector.

Therefore, Geocart offers a full service based on the remote data acquired by airborne platform or satellite technologies, able to provide geographic data useful for the operational actions of authorities and institutions active in natural risks’ management.

Moreover, Geocart is a member of the Technological District of Basilicata (TERN). TERN was founded in December 2005 following an agreement entered into between the Italian Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Education, Universities and Research and the Basilicata Region. TERN works in the field of Earth Observation and Natural Hazards by developing innovative technologies and methods for protection and prevention activities.