AeroGRID has signed a data distribution agreement with swisstopo, the Swiss national mapping agency. Under the agreement AeroGRID will provide access to aerial imagery of the whole of Switzerland via its WMS server.

AeroGRID now hosts over 1.5 million square kilometres, of continuous aerial survey coverage on its WMS web server and is working actively to secure more. Coverage includes 10 countries in Western Europe as well as data from South Africa and the USA. AeroGRID can also provide rapid access to an additional 2m km˛ of data from 10 other European nations.

WMS is the standard protocol for streaming georeferenced map imagery over the Internet to web based applications, GIS and CAD software. WMS feeds only load the imagery that a user actually needs to see rather than a whole dataset, it is a very convenient way for clients to access AeroGRID’s growing library of high resolution imagery.

“We are delighted to welcome swisstopo to the AeroGRID partnership,” said Miles Taylor, AeroGRID’s General Manager. “Switzerland is extremely mountainous which makes flying especially difficult but Swisstopo maintain a regular 4 year update programme which ensures that users always have access to up-to-date coverage of the Confederation."