For more than 47 years, First Base Solutions parent, J.D. Barnes has been serving government to help it gather geospatial information. Today First Base Solutions helps municipal, state and national governments visualize and understand infrastructure, providing support for growth, maintenance and safety. By providing this visual information interface First Base Solutions allows government to manage service delivery while dealing with budget constraints.

For county, provincial, state and national governments, the need for geospatial imaging is very important. Watersheds are not defined by urban boundaries. Neither are roads. Urban communities, often spill over beyond political boundaries, impacting regional environments, infrastructure and budgets. Government agencies and NGOs operate at national levels needing to understand local complexity to better manage the services they deliver. First Base Solutions helps these organizations meet the challenge by providing relevant and accurate geospatial information that is current.

Through GeoARK, First Base Solutions provides a platform for GIS departments to build applications to support a wide range of government departments including municipalities, environment, commerce, transportation, physical infrastructure, natural resources, security, defense, emergency response and more.

First Base Solutions geospatial 3D and orthophoto images give electrical, oil and gas, telecommunications and cable companies the ability to create visually accurate viewable environments for overlaying GIS data. The virtual reality of First Base Solutions images can be used to plan, monitor, maintain and secure power generation plants, refineries, storage farms, and other physical infrastructure such as transmission lines, pipelines, fiber and coaxial cable networks, and microwave and RF towers. First Base Solutions uses GIS knowledge of utilities and service providers in organizing and converting GIS data.

First Base Solutions gives urban planners geospatial images and orthorectified and 3D image maps which can be accurately overlaid with GIS data to obtain up-to-date information on growing city infrastructure including buildings, roads, parks, lots, concessions, contours, sewerage, utilities, communications and more. First Base Solutions images provide accurate representations of current urban landscapes, combining spatially accurate image data with GPS, elevation, CAD, and other GIS data overlays. VuMAP's on-line map viewer provides urban planners with an ability to screen areas prior to on-site visits, studying orthophoto imagery with overlayed with valuable data sets such as parcel fabrics, protected countryside and contours. 3D visualization can support transportation planning, urban tree canopy health status, groundwater supply and identification of pollution sources just to name a few. Cities experiencing rapid growth can visualize and manage their urban-rural divides, supervising growth and transitions from agricultural use to residential, commercial and industrial development.

First Base Solutions offers VuMAP, Zoom2It and other image products for realtors, lawyers, architects, project developers and homeowners. These visual products provide image maps with a range of GIS data options for a variety of applications.

Tasks of interest to commercial and residential real estate include:

• Property searches, lot and concession boundaries
• Subdivision layouts, future plans and key points of interest
• Current site usage including buildings and infrastructure, contours, drainage
• Site planning and studies
• Road and rights-of-way access for utilities and other service providers
• Zoning by-laws
• Data exchange with all levels of government

Using geospatial images, architects, construction companies and engineers can track and manage permit and inspection activities for any given property. First Base Solutions orthophoto and 3D maps make it possible to create a base upon which to overlay GIS data and graphical images to show a virtual representation of a proposed project site, an architectural plan or 3D rendering, or a study of drainage patterns, or current land use.

First Base Solutions gives insurance issuers and brokers the ability to overlay information from existing risk management systems onto visual maps, providing them with the means to assess risk on individual properties, sub-divisions, or municipalities. For example, by looking at contours and drainage patterns overlaid on detailed image maps, underwriters can assess flood risks. An insurer's can view detailed images on the web to do an initial assessment, making it possible to reduce field visits for evaluating locations for potential risks.

Television is a visual media. With First Base Solutions, viewers can fly into a virtual world, a 3D cityscape or terrain that creates the feeling of being there when a story breaks. Newspapers can create photographic map and 3D images that give readers a true perspective on the subject of the article they are reading.

3D images and accurate photo images of buildings, roads and surface terrain when combined with GIS data layers and GPS location technology, gives emergency response teams and police an ability to visualize local communities when responding to natural and man-made disasters. Whether a toxic spill, a weather event, traffic accident, fire or earthquake, emergency agencies can execute on plans based on visual information that is an accurate reflection of local community. As an emergency unfolds, using GPS, administrators can track assets as they are deployed to handle the crisis.

Just as utilities want to see visual imagery showing accurate details of power stations and power lines, network providers want to use imagery to maintain and protect cyber infrastructure. Today more than ever before we are dependent on this infrastructure, encompassing computers, networks, the data pipes and the Internet. A company, by adding GIS data to network management tools, can visualize a network, identify and display network faults and virtually fly into a building to drilldown, find, analyze and restore vital network infrastructure.

Creating 3D buildings using modeling software can be a nightmare in terms of time and budget. Modeling a few blocks of buildings can take months using conventional graphics and gaming software development tools. First Base Solutions orthophoto images and 3D models give flight simulators the ability to integrate current cityscapes into training programs. Computer gaming companies can create 3D buildings that accurately reflect a cityscape, reducing production costs, and making their products reflect reality even better.

Integrating GPS and RFID systems with First Base Solutions 3D and orthophoto image maps gives organizations the ability to show the location of assets in motion, whether by rail, air or truck. This creates a powerful tool for optimizing route maps for such tasks as municipal garbage collection, or courier service delivery and pickup. Users can track shipping containers whether at sea, at the dock or on rail or truck. Stolen vehicles can be located instantly whether hidden under an overpass or in a garage.

Using 3D and orthophoto image maps, field support and help desk providers can pinpoint the location of trouble tickets. This creates a visual tool for examining where problems are greatest geographically. If, in the field, service is required then providers can use these maps to plan optimal coverage. Organizations can visually determine, based on looking at the map, whether local support they deliver is meeting customer requirements.