Aerial Surveys’ predecessors included GeoSmart and earlier aerial-photography and mapping businesses. The company produced photogrammetric mapping, digital imagery and later airborne LiDAR, supplying terrain and surface data from repeated aerial surveys.
Aerial Surveys’ company history dates its introduction of digital 3D photogrammetry using Intergraph ImageStations to 1993, followed by a forward-motion-compensating film camera. This records a change in production methods between conventional aerial photography and digital mapping. The company describes this as a New Zealand first; the claim is attributed to its own account.