Aerial imaging market will grow at nearly 13 percent annually, forecasts Research and Markets

Research and Markets has announced the addition of a new market study, Aerial Imaging Market – Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends, and Forecast, 2013 – 2019, to its market research offering.

The global aerial imaging market, valued at $869.2 million in 2012, is expected to see strong growth at 12.8% CAGR during 2013 to 2019 period, the company forecasts.

The global aerial imaging market consists of many renowned players, such as BLOM ASA, Fugro EarthData, Inc. and Pictometry International Corp., among others. Of these, BLOM ASA and Fugro EarthData, Inc. collectively accounted for approximately 40% of the global aerial imaging market revenue.

Aerial imagery finds widespread applications in cartography, natural resources management, archeology, and disaster risk reduction and prevention, among others. Factors such as rising number of applications, increasing popularity of location-based services and technological developments (camera systems and aerial platforms) are responsible for driving the growth of aerial imagery market.

The market research report is segmented based on application types, end-users and geographic regions. In 2012, the defense and intelligence segment dominated the global aerial imaging market. Due to increased awareness and availability of high resolution aerial imagery from various suppliers, the usage of aerial imagery in this sector is growing rapidly.

Among the potential end-use segments, the highest revenue share of 27.4% was contributed by the government sector in 2012. Government organizations worldwide have started using aerial imagery and related services for several purposes, such as homeland security, demographic planning, and to monitor and manage environmental changes, among others.

By geography, North America dominated the market in 2012, followed by Europe, and is expected to maintain its dominance throughout the forecast period owing to the growing UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) based aerial imaging systems demand. This demand is further supported by UAV companies in North America, which after realizing high revenues during wartime (Afghanistan, Iraq, and other Middle East disturbances), are now diversifying into commercial imaging and other geo-spatial remote sensing services market.

Even the growing demand for aerial imagery from agricultural and forestry end-use sector is expected to contribute to the growth of North American market. However, obstacles such as privacy, national security concerns, and operational limitations (adverse weather condition, time delays and risk of life) are hindering market growth.