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GeoNorth Information Systems (GNIS), in collaboration with the University of Alaska and Lockheed Martin, will survey the Arctic region under contract with the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency for the next five years.

The $15-million contract will see Lockheed Martin’s scalable geospatial processing technology paired with GNIS and the University of Alaska Fairbanks’ Alaska Satellite Facility to build, improve, monitor and maintain terrain elevation models of the region. Though it is a partnership, GNIS will be the overall project manager, conduct the daily operations and provide access to commercial remote-sensing platforms.

“The Arctic domain poses many challenges,” Jon Heinsius, general manager of GNIS, said. “Not only is it an area much larger than the whole United States and Canada combined, but its remoteness, intense weather conditions, and unique characteristics are not found anywhere else in the world. The Cooperative’s combined academic and commercial approach provides the NGA with tremendous flexibility to meet their current and future needs.”