GIS Imagery in Gas Pipeline Management and Security

PG&E oversees an immense pipeline system that delivers natural gas to millions of Californians. With over 6000 miles of pipe running through neighborhoods across California, PG&E’s team of pipeline experts need to have rapid access to the best and most up-to-date spatial information possible.

aerial photos and satellite images in gas pipeline protection

With the help of GlobeXplorer’s ImageConnect web
plug-ins for mapping software, high-resolution aerial
and satellite imagery allows PG&E’s staff to analyze
the public presence around its pipelines. Several of PG&E's pipeline management teams use ImageConnect:

· Risk Management
The Risk Management team must make informed
decisions about how to allocate funds for preventative
maintenance along the pipelines. These preventative
actions range from putting up warning markings over
the pipeline corridor to determining where there may
be a need to improve or replace an existing pipeline.
ImageConnect provides the high-resolution visuals
needed for helping with these decisions.

· GIS
The GIS department has found real value in
ImageConnect when they need exact land
information like road centerlines and structure
locations. According to Chris Warner, Supervising
Gas Engineer, “GlobeXplorer’s high degree of
spatial accuracy and resolution quality makes it a
key tool for our GIS professionals. The data we get
through ImageConnect tends to be some of the
most accurate that we work with and improves the
mapping of our facilities.”

· Integrity Management
The Integrity Management team uses GlobeXplorer’s technology to determine “high consequence areas” where a
pipeline rupture could have a significant impact to the public. Recent federal legislation requires pipeline companies
to determine these locations and develop integrity management plans to ensure the continued safe operation of the
pipelines in these areas. ImageConnect is a fast, cost-effective tool the department uses to analyze the properties
surrounding the pipeline corridors and determine these locations.

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