NewsOK

Remember those fuzzy TV pictures pulled in by rabbit ears.

Now, think of the latest high-def screen.

That’s the now-and-then difference in the quality of aerial photography being shot of Oklahoma City and suburbs.


A plane was in the air this week to get new, high-resolution images after an agreement was struck by the Oklahoma County assessor’s office, nine cities and the U.S. Geological Survey.

How much sharper are the sharpest photos? You wouldn’t quite be able to see the hail dings on your car, but a bashed-in fender would be clearly visible.

Edmond, Norman and Midwest City will have images to that resolution — three inches per pixel. For Edmond, it’s a repeat.

Oklahoma City, Bethany, Choctaw, Moore, Nicoma Park and Yukon opted for a resolution of six inches per pixel. Oklahoma County will photograph the entire county at 12 inches per pixel. Each will determine how to make the images available to the public.

The Oklahoma County assessor’s office worked with the Association of Central Oklahoma Governments for nearly 10 years to get the cities to go together to buy aerial images and save money, County Assessor Leonard Sullivan said.

The $15,000 cost to the county is half the expense of previous aerial projects, he said. The first aerial photos, taken in 2000, cost almost $200,000, he said.

The cities came together after a 2007 bond election gave Oklahoma City the money for news aerial photos, said John Sharp, program coordinator at the Association of Central Oklahoma Governments. Interest in seeing the significant changes downtown helped, he said.

Edmond officials’ satisfaction with the higher resolution also helped sell reluctant officials in other cities, Sharp said.

Because higher-resolution photography provides more information by definition, the images can help local governments explain the physical impact of planning and development actions, said Larry Stein, chief deputy county assessor.

"When you’re talking about zoning issues and can show them photos instead of line drawings, it’s so much better,” he said.

Aerial images are used in economic development efforts both public and private. Sharp pointed out that the new images of the Core-to-Shore area, almost 700 acres south of downtown Oklahoma City declared blighted — therefore open to urban renewal — will be popular.

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