Mark Romano: Earth Eye Makes Inroads in Sensor Fusion
Earth Eye is a relatively new company that has been focused on LiDAR data capture, and the fusion of LiDAR with other sensor information from both an aerial and mobile mapping platform. Their aircraft has three different sensors on it: a LiDAR, a color electro-optical (EO) imager, and a hyperspectral imager. Their vans have 360 imagers, LiDAR, high-resolution pavement systems, rut bars — a number of different sensor technologies on one robust solution platform. Special correspondent Matteo Luccio spoke with Mark Romano, vice president and CTO of Earth Eye, about this sensor fusion approach, about trends in data capture, and about the future of earth observation.
S&S: How did your experience developing electro-optical hardware influence your approach at Earth Eye?
Romano: I learned my tradecraft working in the aerospace industry for about 11 years. In 1994, I entered the commercial sector applying the principles and know-how from what I learned there to try to “build a better mouse trap”. Since then, I have been developing hardware and software specific to the geopositioning and georeferencing systems we use today. I moved from the classic photogrammetric and surveying world to the direct georeferencing system environment.