Survey Work Underway to Prepare for Aerial Imagery

BEMIDJI, Minnesota - Warmer spring weather is starting to arrive, and crews from Beltrami County and the City of Bemidji will be out surveying ground control locations for new aerial imagery. Many of these locations will consist of a white X or plus sign painted on a paved roadway. GPS coordinates are then collected, and when the aerial photos are taken, these ground control targets can be seen from the air. To create a seamless image of the entire county, multiple separate photos have to be stitched together, and the ground control targets play an important role in that process.

A few ground control targets in remote areas where paved roads are less common will be set up as so-called ‘soft targets’. These soft targets may consist of tarps or fabric staked to the ground. Please do not disturb these sites. Crews will remove them when the photo acquisition is completed.

If you encounter survey and painting crews while driving on our area roads, please slow down and move over as you would for any construction, surveying, utility work, and emergency vehicles. Remember, move over for flashing lights – it’s the law.