Case Study: Polk County IA achieves faster, easier GIS coordination with EagleView aerial imagery

How Polk County Used Aerial Imagery to Create Custom GIS Solutions

Polk County IA, a government entity in Iowa, faced significant challenges managing detailed aerial imagery for its numerous departments. The county's GIS Architect, David Dodds, needed an efficient solution to handle the large file sizes and storage demands of this essential data. Hosting the imagery internally was slow and resource-intensive, while using multiple files created confusion over which versions were current. Furthermore, standard top-down images sometimes lacked the context needed for critical decisions, like dispatching emergency services.

By utilizing the EagleView Image Service, the county no longer had to host this data on its own network. EagleView hosted the imagery, providing automatic updates that saved up to 30 days in delivery time and offered crucial oblique (angled) imagery for better context. This resulted in a single, authoritative source that boosted user confidence across 12 departments. The solution saved significant time, eliminated internal maintenance, and allowed for seamless integration with other county software, all without increasing the county's IT footprint.

Polk County IA

David Dodds

GIS Architect