Case Study: Getmapping achieves city-wide 6.25cm high-resolution mapping of Cape Town with VisionMap A3

Getmapping Captures Cape Town Using VisionMap A3 Digital Mapping System

Getmapping, a UK aerial-imagery pioneer founded in 1999, via its African subsidiary Geosense, was commissioned by the City of Cape Town to capture the most detailed coverage ever of the metropolitan area: over 2,500 km² at 6.25 cm resolution. The project faced complex challenges including highly variable terrain (including Table Mountain), busy airport airspace restrictions and the city’s need for frequent, organisation-wide updates to support planning, enforcement, transport and other services.

Geosense deployed the VisionMap A3 Digital Mapping System, flying higher with a larger footprint to reduce survey lines and work around ATC constraints, capturing 690,886 frames across 13,025 sweeps in about 45 flight hours. Automated A3 Lightspeed processing cut manual effort by ~75%, enabling delivery of a seamless, ortho-rectified mosaic into the City’s central GIS within three months — giving Cape Town rapid, cost-effective, high-resolution imagery for use across its departments.

Getmapping

Matt Murphy

Managing Director, Geosense