An aerial view of New Orleans shows the damage caused by Katrina It was acts of terrorism and natural disasters that highlighted the usefulness of aerial imagery, along with increased research and spending in the name of Homeland Security. Hurricane Katrina proved an ideal opportunity for rescuers to use before and after photos to understand the layout of New Orleans. At Rochester's 911 emergency centre in New York State, operators can pull up an overhead map of the caller's location, and responding crews can be told lifesaving information as they approach the scene. Snow, for example, can make a firefighter's job challenging. "In the winter months our fire hydrants can be buried underneath a snowbank," explained John Merklinger, 911 director in Monroe County. "So being able to locate that hydrant, and tell them where to start digging to find it, can make a big difference on how fast they can uncover and use it." Law enforcement The system, supplied by Pictometry, produces multiple geo-referenced oblique images of any one location. Mapping programs help police officers find the best vantage points This means locations can be viewed from every side, and each pixel has a GPS co-ordinate so the software can measure lengths, perimeters, distances and even elevation. Police cruisers have put the system into their cars so that, for example, during a bank siege, snipers are able to quickly find the best vantage points, or predict the route of a runaway suspect. "Our version was designed to work with the touch screens, which obviously simplifies things like distance tools," said Major Neil Flood of Monroe County Sheriff's Office. "We can pretty quickly draw lines and figure out distances without having to use a mouse." So far so good, but what law enforcement officials would like to do is to be able to superimpose the GPS co-ordinates of their men and women onto the map - but that is the next stage. 
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