Blom is a European service provider within acquisition, processing and modelling of

geographical Geography (from Ancient Greek ; combining 'Earth' and 'write', literally 'Earth writing') is the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, and phenomena of Earth. Geography is an all-encompassing discipline that seeks an understanding o ...

information Information is an Abstraction, abstract concept that refers to something which has the power Communication, to inform. At the most fundamental level, it pertains to the Interpretation (philosophy), interpretation (perhaps Interpretation (log ...

. Blom maintains European databases with collections of map, images and models. With particular focus on online services, Blom provides data and services to customers in government, enterprise and consumer markets and enables partners to create applications using Blom’s databases, location-based services and navigation systems. Blom has more than 600 employees and subsidiaries in 10 countries. The company

headquarters Headquarters (often referred to as HQ) notes the location where most or all of the important functions of an organization are coordinated. The term is used in a wide variety of situations, including private sector corporations, non-profits, mil ...

is in Oslo,

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

. The parent company

NRC Group NRC, or nrc, may refer to: Education * NRC School * Northern Regional College Organizations Education * National Resource Center, US Department of Education program promoting international studies and languages through grants * National Resou ...

is listed on the

Oslo Stock Exchange Oslo Stock Exchange () (OSE: OSLO) is a stock exchange within the Nordic countries and offers Norway's only regulated markets for securities trading today. The stock exchange offers a full product range including equities, derivatives and fixed ...

().

History

Blom ASA was founded in 1954 by

hydrographer Hydrography is the branch of applied sciences which deals with the measurement and description of the physical features of oceans, seas, coastal areas, lakes and rivers, as well as with the prediction of their change over time, for the primary ...

Ole H. Blom. By 1988 the company was listed on Oslo Stock Exchange. In 2015, the company merged with Team Bane and Svensk Järnvägsteknik to create

, making Blom a subsidiary of the new company.

Operations

The primary business areas are

aerial photography Aerial photography (or airborne imagery) is the taking of photographs from an aircraft or other flight, airborne platforms. When taking motion pictures, it is also known as aerial videography. Platforms for aerial photography include fixed-wi ...

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laser scanning Laser scanning is the controlled Deflection (physics), deflection of laser beams, visible or invisible. Scanned laser beams are used in some 3-D printers, in rapid prototyping, in machines for material processing, in laser engraving machines, i ...

(LiDAR),

map A map is a symbolic depiction of interrelationships, commonly spatial, between things within a space. A map may be annotated with text and graphics. Like any graphic, a map may be fixed to paper or other durable media, or may be displayed on ...

ping and

modelling A model is an informative representation of an object, person, or system. The term originally denoted the plans of a building in late 16th-century English, and derived via French and Italian ultimately from Latin , . Models can be divided into ...

database In computing, a database is an organized collection of data or a type of data store based on the use of a database management system (DBMS), the software that interacts with end users, applications, and the database itself to capture and a ...

s and database

applications Application may refer to: Mathematics and computing * Application software, computer software designed to help the user to perform specific tasks ** Application layer, an abstraction layer that specifies protocols and interface methods used in a ...

, GIS services and online map services (BlomURBEX). Blom uses large format cameras mounted in twin-engined fixed-winged

aircraft An aircraft ( aircraft) is a vehicle that is able to flight, fly by gaining support from the Atmosphere of Earth, air. It counters the force of gravity by using either Buoyancy, static lift or the Lift (force), dynamic lift of an airfoil, or, i ...

or rotor wing helicopters assisted by

Global Positioning System The Global Positioning System (GPS) is a satellite-based hyperbolic navigation system owned by the United States Space Force and operated by Mission Delta 31. It is one of the global navigation satellite systems (GNSS) that provide ge ...

(GPS) with

Inertial Measurement Unit An inertial measurement unit (IMU) is an electronic device that measures and reports a body's specific force, angular rate, and sometimes the Orientation (geometry), orientation of the body, using a combination of accelerometers, gyroscopes, an ...

s (IMU) to perform oblique and vertical aerial photography. In addition, the company capture map data using survey cameras, laser scanners (LiDAR) and Hyperspectral scanners. Blom maintains a large database of oblique and vertical aerial photography, laser data, map models such as 3D city models, digital surface models and digital terrain models, and digital orthophoto images .

References

{{reflist Business services companies of Norway Companies based in Oslo Business services companies established in 1954 Companies listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange Norwegian companies established in 1954